Neuronal specific targeting of caveolin expression to restore synaptic signaling and improve cognitive function in the neurodegenerative brain and motor function in spinal cord

ABSTRACT

The invention provides an expression system for producing Caveolin-1 in neuronal cells or neural stem cells comprising a neuron-specific regulatory element and a nucleic acid sequence encoding Caveolin-1.

This application is a 371 application of PCT application No. PCT/US2011/056953, filed Nov. 7, 2011, which claims the priority of U.S. Ser. No. 61/456,425, filed Nov. 5, 2010, the contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into the present application.

Throughout this application various publications are referenced. The disclosures of these publications in their entirety are hereby incorporated by reference into this application in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cognitive decline is emerging as one of the greatest health problems in the elderly population.[1,2] Age alone increases the risk of stroke, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and other forms of dementia [2]. The risk of AD increases 14-fold between the ages of 65-85, and affects almost 47% over the age of 85 [3].

Multiple signaling pathways regulate neuronal survival and growth to facilitate the formation of synapses and this signaling is altered with age [4,5,6,7]. Synapses are essential for learning, memory and the development of neurons in the CNS [8]. Receptors and associated proteins aggregate to mold and shape post-synaptic densities in order to permit high fidelity signal transduction leading to rapid regulation of neuronal function [9,10,11]. Understanding the basic pathophysiological mechanisms of cognitive decline and how the subcellular organization of signaling molecules is altered with cognitive decline could potentially yield novel therapeutic targets for neuronal aging and neurodegeneration.

Cholesterol is a major lipid component of synapses and a limiting factor in synapse development, synaptic activity, and neurotransmitter release [12]. Age-related impairments in the biosynthesis, transport, or uptake of cholesterol by neurons in the CNS may adversely affect development, plasticity, and synaptic circuitry associated with neurodegenerative diseases [13,14,15,16,17]. Membrane lipid rafts (MLR), discrete regions of the plasma membrane enriched in cholesterol, glycosphingolipids and sphingomyelin, are essential for synapse development, stabilization, and maintenance [12,18]. Moreover, caveolin-1 (Cav-1), a cholesterol binding and resident protein of MLR [19,20,21], organizes and targets synaptic components of the neurotransmitter and neurotrophic receptor signaling pathways to MLR [e.g., NMDAR, AMPAR, TrkR, Step Family Kinases (SFK)] [22,23,24,25,26,27]. Additionally, neurotransmitter and neurotrophic receptors are found within MLR in growth cones, a finding that has major implications for neuronal plasticity [11,28].

Early-onset AD, which afflicts individuals prior to 60-65 years of age, is known to be caused by mutations in three genes: amyloid precursor protein (APP), presenilin-1, and presenilin-2 [29]. MLR and cholesterol play a protective role against APP processing and amyloid-β (Aβ) toxicity [13,14,16,30,31,32,33]. Cav-1 KO mice develop CNS pathology similar to AD, such as altered NMDA receptor signaling, motor and behavioral abnormalities, increased ischemic cerebral injury, impaired spatial memory, and cholinergic function [27,34,35,36]. Whether MLR, Cav-1 expression, and the organization of pro-survival and pro-growth signaling mechanisms are altered in neurodegenerative states (age-related dementia and AD) has yet to be investigated. The present study tested whether 1) Cav-1 organizes synaptic signaling components in neuronal MLR and synaptosomes, 2) the localization of synaptic signaling components to neuronal MLR and synaptosomes is reduced in brains from aged wild-type and young Cav-1 KO mice, and 3) brains from Cav-1 KO mice develop a neuropathological phenotype similar to Alzheimer's disease.

The aged brain exhibits a loss in gray matter and a decrease in spines and synaptic densities that may represent a sequela for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Membrane/lipid rafts (MLR), discrete regions of the plasmalemma enriched in cholesterol, glycosphingolipids, and sphingomyelin, are essential for the development and stabilization of synapses. Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), a cholesterol binding protein organizes synaptic signaling components within MLR. It is unknown whether loss of synapses is dependent on an age-related loss of Cav-1 expression and whether this has implications for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. We analyzed brains from young (Yg, 3-6 months), middle age (Md, 12 months), aged (Ag, >18 months), and young Cav-1 KO mice and show that localization of PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, TrkBR, AMPAR, and Cav-1 to MLR is decreased in aged hippocampi. Young Cav-1 KO mice showed signs of premature neuronal aging and degeneration. Hippocampi synaptosomes from Cav-1 KO mice showed reduced PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, and Cav-1, an inability to be protected against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury compared to young WT mice, increased Aβ, P-Tau, and astrogliosis, decreased cerebrovascular volume compared to young WT mice. As with aged hippocampi, Cav-1 KO brains showed significantly reduced synapses. Neuron-targeted re-expression of Cav-1 in Cav-1 KO neurons in vitro decreased Aβ expression. Therefore, Cav-1 represents a novel control point for healthy neuronal aging and loss of Cav-1 represents a non-mutational model for Alzheimer's disease.

Decreased expression of pro-survival and growth-stimulatory pathways, in addition to an environment that inhibits neuronal growth, contribute to the limited regenerative capacity in the central nervous system following injury or neurodegeneration. Membrane/lipid rafts, plasmalemmal microdomains enriched in cholesterol, sphingolipids, and the protein caveolin (Cav), are essential for synaptic development/stabilization and neuronal signaling. Cav-1 concentrates glutamate and neurotrophin receptors and pro-survival kinases, and regulates cAMP formation. Here, we show that primary neurons that express a synapsin-driven Cav-1 vector (SynCav1) have increased raft formation, neurotransmitter and neurotrophin receptor expression, NMDA- and BDNF-mediated pro-survival kinase activation, agonist-stimulated cAMP formation, and dendritic growth. Moreover, expression of SynCav1 in Cav-1 KO neurons restores NMDA- and BDNF-mediated signaling and enhances dendritic growth. The enhanced dendritic growth occurred even in the presence of inhibitory cytokines (TNFα, IL-1β) and myelin-associated glycoproteins (MAG, Nogo). Targeting of Cav-1 to neurons thus enhances pro-survival and pro-growth signaling and may be a novel means to repair the injured and neurodegenerative brain.

Multiple signaling pathways have been identified that promote growth and survival of neurons and thereby facilitate the formation of synaptic connections that are essential for learning, memory, and the development of the CNS (Toescu, E. C., Verkhratsky, A., and Landfield, P. W. (2004) Trends Neurosci 27, 614-620; Hattiangady, B., Rao, M. S., Shetty, G. A., and Shetty, A. K. (2005) Exp Neural 195, 353-371; Hotulainen, P., and Hoogenraad, C. C. (2010) J Cell Biol 189, 619-629). Neurotransmitter and neurotrophic receptors, non-receptor tyrosine kinases and other signaling mediators aggregate to mold and shape postsynaptic densities in order to permit high-fidelity signal transduction and the regulation of neuronal function (Huber, A. B., Kolodkin, A. L., Ginty, D. D., and Cloutier, J. F. (2003) Annu Rev Neurosci 26, 509-563; Calabrese, B., Wilson, M. S., and Halpain, S. (2006) Physiology (Bethesda) 21, 38-47; Guirland, C., and Zheng, J. Q. (2007) Adv Exp Med Biol 621, 144-155). A major non-protein component of synapses is cholesterol, which can be a limiting factor in synapse development, synaptic activity, and transmitter release (Mauch, D. H., Nagler, K., Schumacher, S., Goritz, C., Muller, E. C., Otto, A., and Pfrieger, F. W. (2001) Science 294, 1354-1357).

Increasing evidence shows that membrane/lipid rafts, discrete regions of the plasma membrane enriched in cholesterol, glycosphingolipids and sphingomyelin, organize pro-survival and pro-growth neuronal signaling pathways (Allen, J. A., Halverson-Tamboli, R. A., and Rasenick, M. M. (2007) Nat Rev Neurosci 8, 128-140; Head, B. P., Patel, H. H., Tsutsumi, Y. M., Hu, Y., Mejia, T., Mora, R. C., Insel, P. A., Roth, D. M., Drummond, J. C., and Patel, P. M. (2008) Faseb J 22, 828-840; Stern, C. M., and Mermelstein, P. G. (2010) Cell Mol Life Sci 67, 3785-3795), regulate cAMP formation (Oshikawa, J., Toya, Y., Fujita, T., Egawa, M., Kawabe, J., Umemura, S., and Ishikawa, Y. (2003) Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 285, C567-574), and are essential for synapse development, stabilization, and maintenance (Mauch, D. H., Nagler, K., Schumacher, S., Goritz, C., Muller, E. C., Otto, A., and Pfrieger, F. W. (2001) Science 294, 1354-1357; Willmann, R., Pun, S., Stallmach, L., Sadasivam, G., Santos, A. F., Caroni, P., and Fuhrer, C. (2006) Embo J 25, 4050-4060). Caveolin (Cav), a cholesterol binding protein and scaffolding protein found within membrane/lipid rafts (Smart, E. J., Graf, G. A., McNiven, M. A., Sessa, W. C., Engelman, J. A., Scherer, P. E., Okamoto, T., and Lisanti, M. P. (1999) Mol Cell Biol 19, 7289-7304), organizes and targets certain neuronal growth-promoting proteins, such as components of the neurotransmitter and neurotrophic receptor signaling pathways, to membrane/lipid rafts; these include NMDAR, AMPAR, TrkR, GPCRs, Src Family Kinases (SFK)] (Head, B. P., Patel, H. H., Tsutsumi, Y. M., Hu, Y., Mejia, T., Mora, R. C., Insel, P. A., Roth, D. M., Drummond, J. C., and Patel, P. M. (2008) Faseb J 22, 828-840; Bilderback, T. R., Gazula, V. R., Lisanti, M. P., and Dobrowsky, R. T. (1999) J Biol Chem 274, 257-263; Hibbert, Kramer, B. M., Miller, F. D., and Kaplan, D. R. (2006) Mol Cell Neurosci 32, 387-402; Bjork, K., Sjogren, B., and Svenningsson, P. (2010) Exp Cell Res 316, 1351-1356). These receptors and signaling molecules can enhance cAMP formation, an essential second messenger for promoting neuronal growth and dendritic arborization (Neumann, S., Bradke, F., Tessier-Lavigne, M., and Basbaum, A. I. (2002) Neuron 34, 885-893; Wayman, G. A., Impey, S., Marks, D., Saneyoshi, T., Grant, W. F., Derkach, V., and Soderling, T. R. (2006) Neuron 50, 897-909; MacDonald, E., Van der Lee, H., Pocock, D., Cole, C., Thomas, N., VandenBerg, P. M., Bourtchouladze, R., and Kleim, J. A. (2007) Neurorehabil Neural Repair 21, 486-496; Saneyoshi, T., Wayman, G., Fortin, D., Davare, M., Hoshi, N., Nozaki, N., Natsume, T., and Soderling, T. R. (2008) Neuron 57, 94-107; Murray, A. J., Tucker, S. J., and Shewan, D. A. (2009) J Neurosci 29, 15434-15444) and are found within membrane/lipid rafts in growth cones (Guirland, C., and Zheng, J. Q. (2007) Adv Exp Med Biol 621, 144-155). In the setting of traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative disorders, interventions that activate signaling pathways to stimulate cAMP production thus have the potential to improve functional recovery in such settings (MacDonald, E., Van der Lee, H., Pocock, D., Cole, C., Thomas, N., VandenBerg, P. M., Bourtchouladze, R., and Kleim, J. A. (2007) Neurorehabil Neural Repair 21, 486-496; Atkins, C. M., Oliva, A. A., Jr., Alonso, 0. F., Pearse, D. D., Bramlett, H. M., and Dietrich, W. D. (2007) Exp Neurol 208, 145-158).

A major problem following brain injury (e.g., stroke or trauma) and neurodegeneration is limited functional recovery as a consequence of a reduction in signaling that promotes neuronal growth and survival (Atkins, C. M., Oliva, A. A., Jr., Alonso, O. F., Pearse, D. D., Bramlett, H. M., and Dietrich, W. D. (2007) Exp Neurol 208, 145-158; Hicks, R. R., Zhang, L., Dhillon, H. S., Prasad, M. R., and Seroogy, K. B. (1998) Brain Res Mal Brain Res 59, 264-268; Biegon, A., Fry, P. A., Paden, C. M., Alexandrovich, A., Tsenter, J., and Shohami, E. (2004) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101, 5117-5122; Atkins, C. M., Falo, M. C., Alonso, O. F., Bramlett, H. M., and Dietrich, W. D. (2009) Neurosci Lett 459, 52-56). This loss of “protective signaling” increases neuronal loss, impairs brain repair, and increases functional deficits. Therapeutic interventions, such as addition of growth factors or approaches to increase cAMP, are relatively ineffective because of the loss of key receptors and their downstream signaling molecules. Therefore, interventions that restore pro-growth and pro-survival signaling within neurons have the potential not only to reduce neuronal loss and enhance endogenous brain repair, but also to increase the efficacy of pharmacologic agents designed to improve functional outcome (Carmichael, S. T. (2008) Stroke 39, 1380-1388).

We show that over-expression of neuron-targeted Cav-1 in primary neurons enhances expression of membrane/lipid rafts, neurotransmitter and neurotrophin receptors and increases pro-growth signaling, cAMP production, and dendritic growth and arborization. Conversely, siRNA-mediated loss of Cav-1 decreases membrane/lipid rafts and expression of neurotransmitter and neurotrophin receptors, and blunts NMDA- and BDNF-mediated signaling and attenuates agonist-stimulated cAMP production. Re-expression of Cav-1 in Cav-1 KO primary neurons restores pro-survival signaling and promotes neuronal growth and arborization even in the presence of inhibitory cytokines and myelin-associated glycoproteins. These growth-promoting effects of neuron-targeted Cav-1 expression suggest that it might be useful as a therapeutic intervention to limit neurodegeneration and to enhance repair of the injured CNS.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides an expression system for producing Caveolin-1 in neuronal cells or neural stem cells comprising a neuron-specific regulatory element and a nucleic acid sequence encoding Caveolin-1.

The invention also provides methods for promoting neural cell growth comprising administering Caveolin-1 or portion thereof to neural cells in a sufficient amount so as to promote neural cell growth

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1. Hippocampal homogenates show an aged dependent reduction in NR2A, NR2B, PSD-95, and Cav-1. Hippocampi were isolated from the brains of C57BL/6J mice at 3-6 months (young, Yg), 12 months (middle aged, Md), and 24 months (aged, Ag). Immunoblot and densitometric analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, TrkBR, and Cav-1 in the Md and Ag hippocampus compared to Yg. Immunoblots are representative of tissue isolated from 6-7 mice per age group. (*p<0.05).

FIG. 2. PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, AMPAR, TrkBR, and Cav-1 are abundantly detected in buoyant fractions (BF) from young mouse brains homogenates, yet are less abundant BFs from middle aged and aged brains. Sucrose density fractionated was performed on brains from three different age groups of C57BL/6J mice: young (Yg, 3-6 months), middle aged (Md, 12 months), and aged (Ag, >18 months). Immunoblot analysis detected the majority of PSD-95 (post-synaptic density marker), NR2A, NR2B, AMPAR, TrkBR, and Cav-1 in buoyant fractions 4 and 5 (BFs) isolated from Yg brains (A). In contrast, the Md and Ag brains exhibited a drastic reduction in these synaptic signaling components, with the majority of these proteins detected in heavy fractions 11 and 12 (HFs) only. Densitometric analysis of the data is represented in B and is representative of 4-7 mice per age group (*p<0.05). (C) Cav-1 (C) and PSD-95 (P) immunoprecipitates pulled down NR2A, NR2B, AMPAR, and TrkB in the buoyant fractions of Yg mice, with decreased detection in Md and Ag. (O) Immunoblot analysis detected a significant decrease in PSD-95 (post-synaptic density marker), NR2A, NR2B, AMPAR, and Cav-1 in hippocampal synaptosomes from Md and Ag brains compared to Yg (*p<0.05, n=6). PSD-95, NR2, NR2B, AMPAR, and Cav-1 decreased in PSD-95 immunoprecipitates of Md, and Ag synaptosomes compared to Yg. (E) Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was performed on synaptosomal membranes from brains of C57BL/6J mice: young (Yg, 3-6 months) and aged (Old, >18 months). Membrane localized spin labels 5-doxylstearic acid (5-DSA) probes changes in the neuronal membrane fluidity closer to the membrane surface. Lineshape analysis of 5-DSA spin label using the indicated parameters revealed that neuronal membrane of aged mice exhibit significantly lower order parameter (i.e. increased fluidity) than young animals. Aged membranes were 8.5±1.2% more fluid than young membranes (F_((1,10))=223.5, p=0) (*p<0.05).

FIG. 3. Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) does not occur in Cav-1 KO mice. (A) Hippocampal synaptosomes from Cav-1 KO (Yg) showed a similar pattern to Ag, with a decrease in PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, and AMPAR. PSD-95 IPs of Cav-1 KO synaptosomes revealed minimal detection in PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, and AMPAR. (B) WT or Cav-1 KO mice were subjected to 3 min (ischemic preconditioning, IPC) and/or 12 min (lethal ischemia, LI) induced by bilateral carotid artery occlusion (BCAO). Intact neurons in CA1 hippocampal (HP) region were counted from Cresyl Violet stained paraffin fixed sections. IPC (3 min, BCAO) significantly protected CA1 neurons against LI (12 min, BCAO) in WT mice (iv, mp<0.0001, n=7). There was a significant increase in CA1 neuronal death in Cav-1 KO animals subject to IPC (viii) versus WT IPC+LI. Representative Cresyl Violet stained CA1 hippocampal images from (i) WT sham, (ii) WT IPC, (iii) WT LI, and (iv) WT IPC and (v) Cav-1 KO sham, (vi) Cav-1 KO IPC, (vii) Cav-1 KO LI, and (viii) Cav-1 KO IPC. Quantitation of images is presented by the graph.

FIG. 4. Aβ, A4 protein, and P-Tau(T181) are elevated in the hippocampus of young Cav-1 KO mice. (A) Hippocampal homogenates from WT (3 m) and Cav-1 KO (Cav-1 KO, 3-6 m) C57Bl/6J mice were immunoblotted for AP and phosphorylated Tau (P-Tau_([T181])), and GAPDH. Aβ and P-Tau_([T181]) were significantly elevated in young Cav-1 KO hippocampal homogenates (#p<0.05 vs WT, n=4). (B) Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that Cav-1 KO CA1 region of the hippocampus displayed elevated Aβ staining (green) overlapping with Niss1 positive neurons (red) as indicated by yellow fluorescence. Quantitation of the data is represented in the graph (*p<0.05, n=4). (C) Cryostat sections (50 μm) of mouse hippocampus were stained with lectin GSA (Griffonia simplicafolia) to label blood vessels. There was a 20-25% reduction in overall area occupied by blood vessels in Cav-1 KO (#p<0.05 vs WT, n=3-4). Quantitation of the data is represented in the graph (right).

FIG. 5. Cav-1 KO mice exhibit enhanced astrogliosis and neuronal degeneration. (A-C) Light microscopic image displaying 0.5 μm thick hippocampal sections of Cav-1 KO (A-i, A-ii), aged (B-i, B-ii), and young (C-i, C-ii) stained with toludine blue. There is a drastic reduction in neurons within the dentate gyrus (large arrow heads) and CA1 regions (arrows) of young Cav-1 KO mice compared to young and aged WT. In addition, there appears to be the presence of more glia and glial scar formation within the dentate gyrus of Cav-1 KO mice as indicated by the darker gray cell bodies intermixed with the neurons. (1)) Hippocampal coronal cryostat sections (10 μm) from WT and Cav-1 KO mice were stained with Niss1 (neuronal marker, red pixels) and GFAP (astrocyte marker, green) to show no overlap between neurons and astrocytes (#p<0.05). (E) Coronal cryostat sections (25 μm) of 2 month WT, 2 month Cav-1 KO and 12 month Cav-1 KO stained with 0.0004% Fluoro-Jade®B and fluorescent red Niss1 with DAPI. Areas from CA1 of the hippocampus were imaged. WT CA1 showed well-organized astrocytes. Two month Cav-1 KO had areas of disorganized astrocytes with lightly labeling areas of potential future plaque development. Twelve month Cav-1 KO CA1 areas had large bright, entangled green fluorescence with red neurons inside and significantly less organized astrocytes, further demonstrating a degenerating neuronal model.

FIG. 6. Cav-1 KO mice have reduced hippocampal synapses. Synapses were quantified by routine electron microscopy as previously described. [82] EM analysis revealed a significant reduction in hippocampal synapses in both (C) Cav-1 KO (Yg) and (B) Ag mice compared to (A) WT (#p<0.05, n=6-9). Synapses are indicated by red circles in WT, blue circles in Ag, and green circles in Cav-1 KO. (D) WT micrographs exhibited dendritic processes (indicated by d) with intact cytoskeletal architecture (arrows and arrowheads), while (E) Ag and (F) Cav-1 KO displayed less organized dendritic shafts (asterisk) with more abundant astrocyte presence (arrows). (G) Quantitation of data.

FIG. 7. Neuron-targeted re-expression of Cav-1 reduces Aβ expression in primary neurons cultured from Cav-1 KO brains. Primary neurons from Cav-1 KO mice were grown in culture for 4 days and transfected with a lentiviral vector containing Cav-1 driven by the synapsin promoter (SynCav1) for 72 hr. SynGFP served as control vector (2×10⁹ viral particles for both vectors). Schematic of the Syn-promoter-Cav1-PolyA expression cassette unit inserted into the lentiviral vector is shown in (A). DNA fragments that contain the Syn promoter (488 bp: MluI-SalI fragment), Cav-1 coding sequence (˜685 bp for ApaI-NotI fragment; 700 bp for SalI-NotI fragment), and SV40 polyadenylation signals (˜240 bp; NotI-AflII fragment). A similar expression cassette in which enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) coding sequences of pEGFP-N1 (GenBank Accession No. U55762) is found in place of Cav-1 coding sequence was used to construct SynGFP lentiviral vector, in which synapsin promoter drives the expression of EGFP fluorescent reporter protein. Increasing doses of SynCav1 proportionally decreased Aβ expression (B). Six separate primary cultures of Cav-1 KO neurons were incubated with either SynGFP or SynCav1. SynCav1 significantly decreased Aβ expression after 72 hr (***p<0.0001) as shown in C.

FIG. 8 shows the sequence for synapin-caveolin-1 (SynCav1) (SEQ ID NO:1). The synapsin promoter along with cloning sites are notated in blue and the caveolin-1 gene is notated in red. The start (ATG) and stop (TGA) codons are notated in brownish-orange font and highlighted with yellow. Underlined green or green/blue fonts a restriction enzyme cleavage site that can be used to isolate the entire SynCav1 DNA fragment (e.g., MluI and NotI), Syn promoter DNA fragment (e.g., MluI and SalI), Cav1 encoding DNA fragment (e.g., SalI and NotI). Since these restriction cleavage sites are part of several multiple cloning sites (MCS), other restriction enzymes that can serve a similar purpose are found within the proximity of the underlined green or green/blue fonts.

Nucleotide Position: Description   1-1199 Human Synapsin I (Syn1) promoter-mouse caveolin-1 (Cav1) protein coding sequence cassette  1-26 Multiple cloning sequence 1-6 MluI/AflIII restriction enzyme recognition sequence  7-12 ClaI/BspDI/BanIII/Bsa29I/BseCI/BshVI/BsiXI/Bsp106I/BspXI/Bsu15I/BsuTUI/ZhoI restriction enzyme recognition sequence 13-18 KasI/NarI/SfoI/BbeI/DinI/EgeI/EheI/Mly113I restriction enzyme recognition sequence 18-23 PvuII restriction enzyme recognition sequence 21-26 PstI/BspMAI restriction enzyme recognition sequence  21-489 Homo sapiens synapsin I (Syn1) promoter sequence corresponding to nucleotide position 1889-2357 of GenBank Accession No. M55301 229-241 Conserved sequence element, CSTTYGCCYCYGC (SEQ ID NO: 13), shared with other neuron specifically transcribed genes or promoters, including those for human and rat synapsin I, neurofilament, and nerve growth factor receptor, where S = C or G and Y = C or T; reference for conserved sequence element - Sauerwald A, Hoesche C, Oschwald R, Kilimann MW (1990) The 5′-flanking region of the synapsin I gene. A G + C-rich, TATA- and CAAT-less, phylogenetically conserved sequence with cell type-specific promoter function. J Biol Chem 265: 14932-14937 279-287 Conserved sequence element, CGSTGACGTCNC (SEQ ID NO: 14), shared with other neuron specifically transcribed genes or promoters, including those for human and rat synapsin I, neurofilament, and nerve growth factor receptor, where S = C or G and N = A, G, C or T; reference for conserved sequence element - Sauerwald A, Hoesche C, Oschwald R, Kilimann MW (1990) The 5′-flanking region of the synapsin I gene. A G + C-rich, TATA- and CAAT-less, phylogenetically conserved sequence with cell type-specific promoter function. J Biol Chem 265: 14932-14937 284-291 cAMP-responsive element, TGACGTCA; reference - Sauerwald A, Hoesche C, Oschwald R, Kilimann MW (1990) The 5′-flanking region of the synapsin I gene. A G + C-rich, TATA- and CAAT-less, phylogenetically conserved sequence with cell type-specific promoter function. J Biol Chem 265: 14932-14937 442 Start site of transcription from synapsin I promoter; reference - Sauerwald A, Hoesche C, Oschwald R, Kilimann M W (1990) The 5′-flanking region of the synapsin I gene. A G + C-rich, TATA- and CAAT-less, phylogenetically conserved sequence with cell type- specific promoter function. J Biol Chem 265: 14932-14937 489-508 Multiple cloning sequence 489-494 SalI restriction enzyme recognition sequence 495-500 Acc65I/KpnI/Asp718I restriction enzyme recognition sequence 503-508 ApaI/PspOMI/Bsp120I restriction enzyme recognition sequence 506-512 Sequence, CCCAAAC, obtained after replacing SmaI-NotI EGFP-containing fragment of pSyn-EGFP DNA with 685 bp PmeI-NotI Cav1-coding sequence fragment to obtain pSyn-Cav1 DNA; sequence is from joining SmaI end (CCC) to PmeI end (AAAC) 509-530 Homology to nucleotide position 7437-7417 of GenBank Accession No. AB617819  525-1179 Mus musculus caveolin 1 (Cav1) sequences corresponding to nucleotide position 73- 727 of NCBI Reference Sequence Accession No. NM_007616  568-1104 Sequences coding for caveolin 1 protein, corresponding to nucleotide position 116-652 of NCBI Reference Sequence Accession No. NM_007616 or nucleotide position 24-560 of GenBank Accession No. BC038280 568-570 Translational initiation codon, ATG, within caveolin 1 coding sequence 1102-1104 Translational termination codon, TGA, within caveolin 1 coding sequence 1186-1191 EcoRI/FunII restriction enzyme recognition sequence 1192-1199 NotI/CciNI restriction enzyme recognition sequence

FIG. 9 is a schematic of the cloning scheme used to produce the Syn-promoter-Cav1-PolyA DNA cassette unit, using pEGFP-N1 DNA (A), and the resultant pSyn-Cav1 plasmid DNA from which Syn-promoter-Cav1 with or without polyA DNA cassette unit can be obtained following appropriate restriction enzyme digestions (B). A XbaI-SalI DNA fragment, approximately 720 bp, containing the human synapsin I promoter (nucleotide position 1889-2357 of GenBank Accession No. M55301) was inserted into the NheI-SalI sites of pEGFP-N1 (Clontech Catalog #6085-1; GenBank Accession No. U55762) as shown in top of A. The resulting plasmid called pSyn-EGFP was digested with SmaI and NotI, and the released EGFP coding DNA fragment replaced with a 685 bp PmeI-NotI DNA fragment containing the mouse caveolin I coding and flanking sequence (nucleotide position 73-727 of NCBI Reference Sequence Accession No. NM_(—)007616) to produce pSyn-Cav1 plasmid DNA as shown in top of (B). The pSyn-Cav1 plasmid DNA can be used to isolate Syn-promoter-Cav1-PolyA DNA cassette unit by digesting with MluI and AflII releasing approximately 1425 bp fragment with the Syn promoter, full length Cav1 coding sequence, and SV40 polyadenylation signal as shown in bottom of (B); or alternatively if additional flanking sequences are desired with NheI and DraIII to release approximately 1900 bp fragment as stated in bottom of (A). These fragments can be transferred into DNA vectors, such as adenoviral or lentiviral vectors, appropriately digested with restriction enzymes to insert the cassette unit for the delivery of Syn-Cav1 chimeric gene into desired host cells with restricted expression of additional Cav1 protein in neuronal or stem cells. In addition to the Syn-promoter-Cav1-PolyA DNA cassette unit, a smaller cassette unit containing only the Syn-promoter-Cav1 cassette unit without the downstream SV40 polyadenylation signals can be obtained by digesting with MluI and NotI, see notations in FIG. 8. In this case, it is recommended that the recipient vector should supply a polyadenylation signal. An example of a lentiviral vector used to produce retrovirus for delivery of the Syn promoter-Cav1 sequences into neuronal cells is pHIV1-Syn-Cav1 DNA, which was obtained by inserting a Syn promoter-Cav1 cassette unit into the unique BamHI site of the HIV1 vector backbone plasmid pHIV7 (Yam, P. Y., Li, S., Wu, J., Hu, J., Zaia, J. A. and Yee, J. K. (2002) Molecular Therapy 5, 479-484) as shown in (C). Δ represents a 400-bp deletion in the 3′-LTR that completely removes the HIV enhancer and promoter sequences. Arrows depict the direction of transcription. The 5′-LTR of this HIV-based SIN vector construct contains a fusion promoter with the CMV enhancer linked to the promoter of the HIV LTR. The Syn promoter is used to drive the transcription of downstream caveolin-1 coding region. The solid boxes represent the 190 bp flap sequence from HIV-1, which consists of a polypurine tract sequence (cPPT) and a central termination sequence (CTS) from the HIV polymerase (poi) gene and functions to facilitate nuclear import of the viral preintegration complex (Follenzi, A., Ailles, L. E., Bakovic, S., Geuna, M. and Naldini, L. (2000) Nature Genetic, 25, 217-222; Zennou, V., Petit, C., Guetard, D., Nerhbass, U., Montagnier, L. and Charneau, P. (2000) Cell 101, 173-185). Presence of the WPRE or woodcheck hepatitis virus post-transcriptional regulatory element increases transgene expression in the context of plasmid DNAs or viral vectors (Zufferey, R., Donello, J. E., Trono, D. and Hope, T. J. (1999) J Virology 73, 2886-2892; Loeb, J. E., Cordier, W. S., Harris, M. E., Weitzman, M. D. and Hope, T. J. (1999) Human Gene Therapy 10, 2295-2305; Huang, J. and Liang, T. J. (1993) Molec Cell Biol 13, 7476-7486).

The Syn-promoter-Cav1-PolyA DNA cassette unit may be used to directly transfect recipient cells along with a marker gene to select or identify the successfully transfected cells, or alternatively, to obtain stable cell lines.

For the line drawing at the bottom of (A), the numbers in basepair or basepairs (bp) indicated refer to the fragment sizes following digestion with the indicated restriction enzymes on either side of the indicated by value. The restriction enzyme cleavage sites, XbaI and PmeI, with a strikethrough refer to the fact that these restriction enzyme cleavage sites used to generate a DNA fragment end were lost following fusion of XbaI cohesive end with NheI cohesive end or PmeI blunt end with SmaI blunt end.

FIG. 10 shows a schematic depicting the organization of ionotropic glutamate and neurotrophin receptors by Cav-1 in synaptic regions in neurons. (A) Normal neurons show Cav-1 oligomers organizing N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR), tropomyosin kinase receptors (TrkR), and Src tyrosine kinases in synaptic regions. (B) Following lethal ischemia, there is a drastic reduction in Cav-1, synapses, and functional receptors. (C) Re-expression of Cav-1 driven by a neuronal specific synapsin promoter (Syn-Cav-1) enhances expression of glutamate and neurotrophin receptors and improves neuroprotective signaling in the central nervous system.

FIG. 11. Neuron-targeted expression of Cav-1 enhances expression of pro-survival signaling components in wild-type primary neurons. (A) Cav-1 KO glia were incubated with SynCav1 or a non-tissue specific adenoviral vector containing the Cav-1 gene (AdvCav1). Cav-1 KO glia show re-expression of Cav-1 with the non-specific AdvCav1 but not SynCav1, indicating SynCav1 neuronal specificity. (B) Primary neurons were transfected with SynGFP or SynCav1 (2×10⁹ viral particles) for 72 h and then subjected to immunoblot analysis. SynCav1 enhanced protein expression of PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, TrkBR, and CT-B (cholera toxin B, lipid raft marker) (n=6, #p<0.05). (C) NMDA (10 μM; 10 min) treatment enhanced P-ERK1/2, P-CaMKII, and P-Src (n=4-9, p<0.05) in SynCav1-expressing neurons. (D) BDNF (50 ng/ml; 10 min) treatment enhanced P-TrkB, P-Akt, and P-ERK1/2 (n=4, p<0.05) in SynCav1-expressing neurons. (E) Forskolin (Fsk, 10 μM; 10 min) treatment enhanced P-ERK1/2 (n=4, p<0.05) in SynCav1-expressing neurons. (F) Neurons were transfected with SynGFP, SynCav1, or AdvshRNACav1 for 72 h followed by treatment with a dopamine 1 receptor agonist (10 μM), NMDA, serotonin receptor 6 agonist (10 μM, 5-HT₆), or Fsk (10 μM) and cAMP was measured by radioimmunoassay (28,29). Neurons were pre-treated with the PDE4 inhibitor, rolipram (10 μM). Stimulation of D₁R, NMDAR, 5-HT₇, and adenylyl cyclase (AC) significantly increased cAMP formation in the SynCav1-transfected neurons (n=4; p<0.05). Conversely, agonist-stimulated cAMP formation is blunted in shRNACav1-transfected neurons.

FIG. 12. Neuron-targeted expression of Cav-1 enhances membrane/lipid rafts, dendrite number and length. (A) Primary neurons (days in vitro, DIV4) were transfected with SynCav1 (10⁹ viral particles/μl) and cells were grown for 21 days and then stained with CT-B (488) (green, top panels), the dendritic shaft marker β₃-tubulin (red, middle panels), and for Cav-1 (white, bottom panels). (B) Primary neurons were incubated with SynCav1 or SynGFP for 21 days; dendritic branching, length, and area were then measured using Autoneuron, a tracing algorithm that measures 3D image volume stacks. Top panels, Neurons stained for the neuronal F-actin binding protein drebrin (red); bottom panels, Autoneuron tracing of the drebrin stain. Scale bar, 10 μm.

FIG. 13. Neuron-targeted expression of Cav-1 enhances dendritic growth. Primary neurons were incubated with SynCav1 or SynGFP for 21 days and imaged by scanning electron microscopy. (A) (a) SynGFP neurons; (B) (b) SynCav1-incubated neurons; Scale bar, 10 μm. Images were acquired on a Hitachi S-270 SEM with Gatan digital camera.

FIG. 14. Neuron-targeted expression of Cav-1 in Cav-1 KO neurons restores pro-survival signaling and enhances growth of dendrites. (A) Primary neurons from Cav-1 KO mice were incubated with SynGFP or SynCav1 (2×10⁹ viral particles) for 72 h and the treated with various agonists. SynCav1 significantly enhanced NMDA (10 μM; 10 min)-mediated P-ERK1/2 (n=4 *p<0.05) expression, BDNF (50 ng/ml; 10 min)-promoted expression of P-Akt, P-Src, and P-ERK1/2 (n=4, *p<0.05) and Fsk (10 μM; 10 min)-promoted expression of P-ERK1/2 (n=4, *p<0.05). Bsl=basal, N═NMDA, B=BDNF, F=forskolin. (B) SynCav1 expression in Cav-1 KO neurons significantly enhanced dendritic branching, length, and area (*p<0.05) (n=5, mean±SEM) 21 d post-treatment. Neurons were stained for the dendritic marker MAP2 (red), Cav-1 (white), and DAPI (blue). Scale bar, 10 μm.

FIG. 15. Neuron-targeted expression of Cav-1 enhances growth in primary neurons in the presence of inhibitory cytokines and myelin associated glycoproteins. Primary neurons from wild-type (A) or Cav-1 KO (B) mice were incubated with TNFα (1 ng/ml), IL-113 (1 ng/ml), or MAG+Nogo (1 mg/ml) prior to incubation with SynGFP or SynCav1 for 21 days. Neurons were stained for β₃-tubulin (red pixels) and Cav-1 (white pixels) followed by measurement of branching, length, and area of dendrites using Autoneuron. SynCav1 significantly enhanced dendritic arborization in neurons from both WT and Cav-1 KO mice in neurons pre-treated with TNFα, IL-1β, and MAG/Nogo compared to neurons from SynGFP mice (One-way ANOVA Bonferroni's Multiple Comparison Test, *p<0.0001, n=4-7). Images were captured with an Olympus confocal microscope (Fluoroview 1000). Optical sections spaced by 0.2-0.5 μm were obtained. Scale bar, 10 μm.

FIG. 16. Neuron-targeted expression of Cav-1 in wild-type primary neurons enhances membrane cholesterol. (A) Primary neurons were incubated with SynGFP or SynCav1 (2×10⁹ viral particles) for 72 h and membrane/lipid rafts were purified by sucrose density fractionation. SynCav1 significantly increased cholesterol in buoyant fractions 4 & 5 (One-way ANOVA Bonferroni's Multiple Comparison Test, *p<0.001, n=3). (B) Immunoblot analysis detected an increase in PSD-95 and Cav-1 in the buoyant fractions. (C) SynCav1 neurons pre-treated with MβCD (3 mM, 30 min) exhibited a loss in NMDA (10 μM; 10 min), BDNF (50 ng/ml; 10 min), and Fsk (10 μM; 10 min)-mediated P-ERK1/2 compared to cholesterol:MβCD treated SynCav1 neurons. Bsl=basal, N=NMDA, B=BDNF, F=forskolin.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Definitions

All scientific and technical terms used in this application have meanings commonly used in the art unless otherwise specified. As used in this application, the following words or phrases have the meanings specified.

As used herein, “administer” or “administering” to a subject includes but is not limited to tumoral administration, intratumoral administration, peritumoral administration, intravenous (i.v.) administration, intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration, intramuscular (i.m.) administration, subcutaneous administration, oral administration, inhalation administration, topical administration, administration by injection, or the implantation of a slow-release device such as a miniosmotic pump, or administration by slow release devices such as vesicles or capsules to the subject.

The phrase “treating” or “treatment” refers to any manner in which one or more of the symptoms of a disease or disorder are ameliorated or otherwise beneficially altered, whether in a permanent or temporary manner, which can be attributed to or associated with administration of the compound or composition herein. The term encompasses any pharmaceutical use, including prophylactic uses in which the development of one or more of the symptoms of a disease or disorder is prevented, delayed or reduced, whether in a permanent or temporary manner, which can be attributed to or associated with administration of the composition. In an embodiment of the invention, treatment encompasses the use of Caveolin-1 for treating a neurological (e.g., neurodegenerative) disease or disorder.

As used herein, “subject” means any living organism to which the agents can be administered in order to treat the neurological disorder. Subjects may include, but are not limited to, humans, monkeys, cows, goats, sheep, mice, rats, cats, rabbits, dogs, hamsters, horses, and any transgenic animals.

As used herein, “pharmaceutically acceptable carrier” means any material that may be combined with an expression system, components of an expression system, biological material derived from an expression system, biological material derived from the use of an expression system, nucleic acid or modified nucleic acid of an expression system, DNA or modified DNA of an expression system, RNA or modified RNA of an expression system of the invention (or derivatives thereof) and composition containing caveolin-1 protein, its variants, or its protein fragment from any species (Tang, Z., Scherer, P. E., Okamoto, T., Song, K., Chu, C., Kohtz, D. S., Nishimoto, I., Lodish, H. F. and Lisanti, M. P. (1996) The Journal of biological chemistry 271, 2255-2261; Williams, T. M. and Lisanti, M. P. (2004) Genome biology 5, 214; Cameron, P. L., Ruffin, J. W., Bollag, R., Rasmussen, H. and Cameron, R. S. (1997) J Neurosci 17, 9520-9535; Scherer, P. E., Okamoto, T., Chun, M., Nishimoto, I., Lodish, H. F. and Lisanti, M. P. (1996) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93, 131-135; Tang, Z., Okamoto, T., Boontrakulpoontawee, P., Katada, T., Otsuka, A. J. and Lisanti, M. P. (1997) J Biol Chem 272, 2437-2445; Cohen, A. W., Hnasko, R., Schubert, W. and Lisanti, M. P. (2004) Physiol Reviews 84, 1341-1379; Kirkham, M., Nixon, S. J., Howes, M. T., Abi-Rached, L., Wakeham, D. E., Hanzal-Bayer, M., Ferguson, C., Hill, M. M., Fernandez-Rojo, M., Brown, D. A. et al. (2008) J Cell Sci 121, 2075-2086; Razani, B., Woodman, S. E. and Lisanti, M. P. (2002) Pharm Reviews 54, 431-467), be it purified from the original species or produced via recombinant DNA methods, in order to administer them to a subject in any form so as to prevent or treat a neurodegenerative disease or neurological disorder. For example, a carrier includes any material that will maintain the agents' effective activity when administered to a subject and that is non-reactive with a subject's immune system. Potential carriers may include, but are not limited to, any solvents, media, suspensions, emulsions or other excipients such as starch, milk, sugar, certain types of clay, gelatin, stearic acids, stearate salts, talcum, oils, gums, glycols, flavorings, preservatives or color additives, etc. Potential carrier forms may include sterile solutions, aerosols, liposomes, amphoteric liposomes, lipid-based transfection agents, peptide-based transfection agents, positively charged polymers, negatively charged polymers, dendrimer transfection agents, poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM)-based dendrimer, positively charged, activated dendrimers (such as SuperFect or PolyFect; Qiagen) polyanions, polyactions, spermidine, spermine, divalent metals, calcium ion and calcium salts, calcium chloride, calcium phosphate, vesicles, biolballistic or biolistic particles, gold nano- or micro-particles, spermidine-coated nano- or micro-particles, positively charge-coated nano- or micro-particles, 1.0-micron to 1.5-micron diameter gold particles used in conjunction with Helios gene gun (BioRad) pills, tablets or capsules.

As used herein, “neuronal cell” is any electrically excitable cell constituting the developing nervous system or developed nervous system, which typically does not undergo cell division. “Neural stem cell” is any multipotent and self-renewing cell, which gives rise to a more lineage restricted progenitor cell that differentiates either into a neuron or a glial cell.

A “neuron-specific regulatory element” can be a nucleic acid with a binding site for a protein factor which specifically is characteristically present in a neuronal cell and specifically binds to the sequence in the binding site, or alternatively, a group of binding sites such as those constituting a transcriptional regulatory unit, a promoter, a transcriptional enhancer, or promoter-enhancer pair to which a set of factors (several factors) bind, the combination of these factors confer specificity for a neuronal cell. The “neuron-specific regulatory element” may be derived from nature or alternatively maybe conceived and made by the hands of man such as to confer selective or specific expression of caveolin-1 coding sequences or its derivative in neuronal cells or neural stem cells. The “neuron-specific regulatory element” may respond to a signal controlling its activity. One such example of a man made “neuron-specific regulatory element” dependent on a signal for its function is the incorporation of tetracycline operator sites (tetO) and a doxycycline-regulated transcriptional activator and/or repressor to control the transcriptional activity of multiple tetO-containing responder gene, as is well known in the art (Blesch, A., Conner, J. M. and Tuszynski, M. H. (2001) Gene Therapy 8, 954-960; Gascon, S., Paez-Gomez, J. A., Diaz-Guerra, M., Scheiffele, P. and Scholl, F. G. (2008) J Neurosci Methods 168, 104-112; Kafri, T., van Praag, H., Gage, F. H. and Verma, I. M. (2000) Molecular Therapy 1, 516-521; Koponen, J. K., Kankkonen, H., Kannasto, J., Wirth, T., Hillen, W., Bujard, H. and Yla-Herttuala, S. (2003) Gene Therapy 10, 459-466; Zhou, X., Vink, M., Klayer, B., Berkhout, B. and Das, A. T. (2006) Gene Therapy 13, 1382-1390; Gao, Q., Sun, M., Wang, X., Zhang, G. R, and Geller, A. I. (2006) Brain Res 1083, 1-13).

“Specific” as used within the context of “neuron-specific,” “neuronal cell-specific,” or “neural stem cell-specific” should be construed in the broadest term to reflect a factor that may not only be restricted to particular cells but also a factor that may be most abundant or most active in the particular cells.

As used herein, a “vector” is a nucleic acid into which a neuron-specific regulatory element and caveolin-1 coding sequence can be inserted, following which the “vector” permits transcription and proper processing of the nascent transcript to allow expression of the caveolin-1 protein. The “vector” may also be a nucleic acid which following introduction into a cell and in the presence of viral proteins produces virions or viral particles with the nucleic acid sequence of the neuron-specific regulatory element and caveolin-1 coding sequence incorporated in the genome of the virion or viral particle.

While by no means meant to be exhaustive, examples of viral vectors and non-viral vectors along with their use and mode of delivery can be found in the following references: Gossen, M. and Bujard, H. (1992) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89, 5547-5551; Gossen, M., Freundlieb, S., Bender, G., Muller, G., Hillen, W. and Bujard, H. (1995) Science, 268, 1766-1769; Akagi, K., Kanai, M., Saya, H., Kozu, T. and Berns, A. (2001) Nucleic Acids Res 29, E23; Einav, Y., Shistik, E., Shenfeld, M., Simons, A. H., Melton, D. W. and Canaani, D. (2003) Molec Cancer Therapeutics, 2, 1121-1128; Lufino, M. M., Edser, P. A. and Wade-Martins, R. (2008) Molec Therapy 16, 1525-1538; Durand, S, and Cimarelli, A. (2011) Viruses 3, 132-159; Glover, D. J. (2011) Infectious Disorders Drug Targets. [PMID: 22034936]; High, K. A. and Aubourg, P. (2011) Methods Mol Biol 807, 429-457; Wang, L., Blouin, V., Brument, N., Bello-Roufai, M. and Francois, A. (2011) Methods Mol Biol 807, 361-404; Tolmachov, O. E. (2011) Current Gene Therapy 11; Lentz, T. B., Gray, S. J. and Samulski, R. J. (2011) Neurobiol Disease [PMID: 22001604]; Vetrini, F. and Ng, P. (2010) Viruses 2, 1886-1917; Ehrengruber, M. U., Schlesinger, S, and Landstrom, K. (2011) Curr Protocols Neurosci/editorial board, Jacqueline N. Crawley . . . [et al.], Chapter 4, Unit4 22; Morgenstern, P. F., Marongiu, R., Musatov, S. A. and Kaplitt, M. G. (2011) Methods Mol Biol 793, 443-455; Guo, X. and Huang, L. (2011) Accounts of chemical research [AMID: 21870813]; Lufino, M. M., Popplestone, A. R., Cowley, S. A., Edser, P. A., James, W. S, and Wade-Martins, R. (2011) Methods Mal Biol 767, 369-387; Kato, S., Kuramochi, M., Takasumi, K., Kobayashi, K., Inoue, K. I., Takahara, D., Hitoshi, S., Ikenaka, K., Shimada, T. and Takada, M. (2011) Human Gene Therapy [PMID: 21806473]; Zhao, L., Wu, J., Zhou, H., Yuan, A., Zhang, X., Xu, F. and Hu, Y. (2011) Current gene therapy [PMID: 21711227].

In order that the invention herein described may be more fully understood the following description is set forth.

Compositions of the Invention

The invention provides expression systems for producing Caveolin-1 primarily in neuronal cells or neural stem cells comprising at least one neuron-specific regulatory element and a nucleic acid sequence encoding Caveolin-1.

In one embodiment, the neuron-specific regulatory element is a binding site for a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein, primarily expressed in neuronal cells or neural stem cells. In another embodiment, the neuron-specific regulatory element is a group of binding sites for a transcription factor or its interacting protein uniquely or predominantly present in neuronal cells. In a different embodiment, the neuron-specific regulatory element is a group of different binding sites for a group of transcription factors uniquely or predominantly present in neuronal cells.

In one embodiment, the neuron-specific regulatory element (e.g., a neuron-specific transcriptional regulatory element) is a neuron-specific promoter. It may be a synapsin promoter, e.g., as set forth in FIG. 8 beginning at position 21 and ending at position 489 (SEQ ID NO:1). Other suitable promoters include, but are not limited to, a Dopaminergic promoter, enolase promoter, neurofilament promoter, nerve growth factor receptor promoter, and CaMKII promoter.

In one embodiment, the neuron-specific regulatory element (e.g., a neuron-specific transcriptional regulatory element) is a neuron-specific transcriptional enhancer or neuron-specific transcriptional enhancer-promoter combination.

In one embodiment, the neuron-specific regulatory element is based on either multiple lac operator (lacO) sites or multiple tetracycline operator (tetO) sites fused upstream of a minimal or basal promoter. A bacterial transcription factor that can bind to its respective operator site is expressed in a neuronal cell or a neural stem cell, such as lac repressor for the series of lacO sites or tetracycline repressor for a series of tetO sites. Binding of the lac repressor to the lacO sites or tetracycline repressor to the tetO sites, is controlled by the presence or absence of IPTG or doxycycline/tetracycline, respectively, giving an “on-off” switch to control the transcription of the downstream sequences (Cronin, C. A., Gluba, W. and Scrable, H. (2001) Genes Dev 15, 1506-1517; Blesch, A., Conner, J. M. and Tuszynski, M. H. (2001) Gene Therapy 8, 954-960; Gascon, S., Paez-Gomez, J. A., Diaz-Guerra, M., Scheiffele, P. and Scholl, F. G. (2008) J Neurosci Methods 168, 104-112; Kafri, T., van Praag, H., Gage, F. H. and Venna, I. M. (2000) Molecular Therapy 1, 516-521; Koponen, J. K., Kankkonen, H., Kannasto, J., Wirth, T., Hillen, W., Bujard, H. and Yla-Herttuala, S. (2003) Gene Therapy 10, 459-466; Zhou, X., Vink, M., Klayer, B., Berkhout, B. and Das, A. T. (2006) Gene Therapy 13, 1382-1390; Gao, Q., Sun, M., Wang, X., Zhang, G. R. and Geller, A. I. (2006) Brain Res 1083, 1-13). In the case of the tetracycline/doxycycline regulated system, the repressor of the tetracycline resistance operon of Escherichia coli was initially fused to the transcriptional activation domain of virion protein 16 (VP16) of herpes simplex virus to produce a tetracycline- (or doxycycline-) controlled transactivator called tTA, which binds tetO sites only in the absence of tetracycline to produce robust transcription (Gossen, M. and Bujard, H. (1992) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89, 5547-5551).

In one embodiment, the multiple tetracylcine operator (tetO) sites fused upstream of a minimal or basal promoter is regulated by a neuronal cell-specific or neural stem cell-specific expression of a mutant tTA called reverse transactivator (rtTA) in which the tetracycline repressor chimeric transactivator binds its tetO sequences only in the presence of tetracycline (or doxycycline) to drive the transcription from the minimal promoter (Gossen, M., Freundlieb, S., Bender, G., Muller, G., Hillen, W. and Bujard, H. (1995) Science, 268, 1766-1769). The transcriptional activation domain may be exchanged, e.g., SV40 VP16 activation domain with transcriptional activating domain of human E2F4 transcription factor, with other activation domain to obtain a more suitable transcriptional activation domain (Akagi, K., Kanai, M., Saya, H., Kozu, T. and Berns, A. (2001) Nucleic Acids Res 29, E23).

In one embodiment, the neuron-specific regulatory element (e.g., a neuron-specific transcriptional regulatory element) and caveolin-1 coding sequence reside on a nucleic acid with chromatin insulator sequences, e.g., chicken beta-globin locus insulator (Giles, K. E., Gowher, Ghirlando, R., Jin, C. and Felsenfeld, G. (2010) Cold Spring Harbor Symp Quant Biol 75, 79-85; Macarthur, C. C., Xue, H., Van Hoof, D., Lieu, P. T., Dudas, M., Fontes, A., Swistowski, A., Touboul, T., Seerke, R., Laurent, L. C. et al. (2011) Stem Cells Dev (PMID: 21699412)) such that the insulators are on either side of the neuronal cell- or neural stem cell-specific transcription unit. The function of the insulator DNA sequences is to ensure long term gene expression and prevent silencing of the introduced transgene

In one embodiment, the neuron-specific regulatory element (e.g., a neuron-specific transcriptional regulatory element) and caveolin-1 coding sequence reside on a vector, which can replicate autonomously in neuronal cell or neural stem cell and be stably inherited as an episome. One such vector uses Epstein-Barr virus cis- and trans-elements to create a stably replicated and maintained episome in mammalian cells (Einav, Y., Shistik, E., Shenfeld, M., Simons, A. H., Melton, D. W. and Canaani, D. (2003) Molec Cancer Therapeutics 2, 1121-1128; Lufino, M. M., Edser, P. A. and Wade-Martins, R. (2008) Molecular Therapy 16, 1525-1538).

The nucleic acid sequence encoding Caveolin-1 may be from any mammal including but not limited to humans, monkeys, cows, goats, sheep, mice, rats, cats, dogs, hamsters, and horses.

In one embodiment, the nucleic acid sequence encoding a murine Caveolin-1 is set forth in FIG. 8 beginning at position 568 and ending at position 1104 (Tang, Z. L., Scherer, P. E. and Lisanti, M. P. (1994) Gene 147, 299-300; GenBank Accession No. U07645).

In another embodiment, the nucleic acid sequence encoding a human Caveolin-1 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:5 beginning at position 1 and ending at position 537 (Glenney, J. R., Jr. (1992) FEBS letters, 314, 45-48; Cohen, A. W., Hnasko, R., Schubert, W. and Lisanti, M. P. (2004) Physiol Reviews 84, 1341-1379; GenBank Accession No. AB45128 and Z189514).

In a further embodiment, the nucleic acid sequence encoding a canine Caveolin-1 is shown in SEQ ID NO:7 beginning at position 1 and ending at position 537 (Kurzchalia, T. V., Dupree, P., Parton, R. G., Kellner, R., Virta, H., Lehnert, M. and Simons, K. (1992) J Cell Biol 118, 1003-1014; NCBI Reference Sequence: NM_(—)001003296; GenBank Accession No. Z12161).

In yet a further embodiment, the nucleic acid sequence encoding a bovine Caveolin-1 is shown in SEQ ID NO:9 beginning at position 1 and ending at position 537 (Ju, H., Zou, R., Venema, V. J. and Venema, R. C. (1997) J Biol Chem 272, 18522-18525; GenBank Accession No. U86639).

Additionally, in another embodiment, the nucleic acid sequence encoding an equine Caveolin-1 is shown in SEQ ID NO:11 beginning at position 268 and ending at position 804 (NCBI Reference Sequence: NM_(—)001114143).

In one embodiment of the invention, the expression system is a double-stranded DNA molecule with a neuron-specific promoter or promoter-enhancer upstream of a caveolin-1 coding sequence, so as to permit specific or selective transcription of the caveolin-1 coding sequences in neuronal cell or neural stem cell. To ensure proper processing and maturation of the nascent caveolin-1 transcript, the expression system will have a polyadenylation signal in the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of the transcript, such as those from SV40 polyadenylation signals as found in pEGFP-N1 plasmid DNA (Clontech) and preferably include an intron, e.g., a chimeric intron as described in pCI plasmid DNA (Promega), either in the 5′ UTR or 3′ UTR of the nascent transcript. The context of the translation initiation codon may be altered to better fit Kozak consensus sequence for efficient utilization of the start site of translation ATG, as is known in the art. The transcription unit consisting of a promoter or promoter-enhancer, caveolin-1 coding sequences, polyadenylation signals and preferably an intron maybe flanked by insulator elements to ensure long term and stable expression of the transgene.

In one embodiment of the invention, the expression system is a vector, e.g., a viral vector, into which a neuron-specific regulatory element and caveolin-1 coding sequences have been inserted. This vector will supply the necessary polyadenylation signals as well as the optional intron and insulator elements.

In one embodiment of the invention, the expression system is a vector, e.g., a viral vector, into which a neuron-specific regulatory element, caveolin-1 coding sequences, and polyadenylation signals have been inserted.

Merely by way of example, the vector may comprise nucleic acids, e.g., deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The vector may be used to produce viral particles, either corresponding to RNA viruses or DNA viruses. In one embodiment, the vector or a minimal expression system (consisting of a neuron-specific promoter or promoter-enhancer linked upstream of a caveolin-1 coding sequence which is joined to polyadenylation signals at its 3′ end with an optional intron either in the 5′- or 3′-UTR and optional insulator elements at either end of the transcription unit) may be associated or included within liposome particles. In another, the vector may be, e.g., associated or included in a complex with dendrimers, e.g., poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM)-based dendrimer and positively charged, activated dendrimers, such as SuperFect or PolyFect (Qiagen). Additionally, in yet another embodiment, the vector may be associated with nano- or micro-particles, e.g., micro-gold biolistic particles used in Helios gene gun (BioRad).

In one embodiment, the vector has schematic as set forth in FIG. 9B or 9C.

Suitable examples of a viral vector include but are not limited to a retrovirus vector, lentivirus vector, adenovirus vector, adeno-associated virus vector, DNA virus vector, herpes simplex virus vector, and chimeric adeno-associated virus vector. In one embodiment, the lentivirus vector is derived from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), e.g., a human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1).

The HIV-derived vector may contain a central DNA flap, having, e.g., a polypurine tract sequence (cPPT) and a central termination sequence (CTS) from the HIV polymerase (pol) gene and facilitating nuclear import of the viral preintegration complex.

Further, the HIV-derived vector may contain woodchuck hepatitis virus posttranscriptional regulatory element, WPRE, to e.g., increase transgene expression in the context of plasmid DNAs or viral vectors.

Additionally, in one embodiment of the invention, the expression system further comprises a reverse transactivator neuronal target gene that regulates expression of Caveolin-1. For example, a reverse transactivator neuronal target gene may be regulated by doxycycline.

Methods of the Invention

Additionally, the invention further provides methods for promoting neural cell growth or neural stem cell growth comprising administering Caveolin-1 to neural cells in a sufficient amount so as to promote neural cell growth or neural stem cell growth.

The Caveolin-1 so administered may be recombinant Caveolin-1 obtained by expressing the Caveolin-1 gene of different mammals including but not limited to humans, horses, cows, cats, dogs, rabbits, rats, monkeys, and mice and additionally also from non-mammals including chicken, worms, and fishes. Caveolin-1 may be administered directly as a protein or indirectly as a gene that can be expressed in neural cells or neural stem cells (e.g., through gene therapy).

In one embodiment, the method provides transferring the caveolin-1 gene in a neural stem cell or neuronal cell comprising introducing the expression system of the invention into the neural stem cell or neuronal cell, thereby transferring the caveolin-1 gene into a neural stem cell or neuronal cell, respectively. The expression system thereby expresses the Caveolin-1 thereby administering Caveolin-1 to neural cells or neural stern cells.

In accordance with the practice of the invention, the neural stem cell or neuronal cell may be from any mammal, including but not limited to, a dog, cat, rat, rabbit, mouse, horse, donkey, monkey, and human.

Also, the Caveolin-1 gene and resulting protein may be from any mammal, including but not limited to, dog, cat, rat, rabbit, mouse, horse, donkey, monkey, and human.

Merely by way of example, the neuronal cell may be derived from, including but not limited to, brain cortex, cerebrum, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, corpus callosum, tectum, tegmentum, cerebellum, pons, and medulla.

The invention also provides methods of transferring the caveolin-1 gene into a producer cell. In one embodiment, the method comprises introducing the expression system of the invention into the producer cells and permitting the expression system to be incorporated as part of the genome of the producer cells (or maintained as an autonomously replicating episomal DNA in the nucleus of the producer cells). Optionally, the method may further include the step of selecting producer cells in which the expression system is incorporated as part of the genome of the producer cells (or maintained as an autonomously replicating episomal DNA in the nucleus of the producer cells). The producer cell may then express caveolin-1 protein from the caveolin-1 gene so transferred. Gene transfer may be effected ex vivo, in vivo, or in vitro.

In an embodiment of the invention, the producer cell is a neural cell or a stem cell.

In accordance with the practice of the invention, the producer cell may be grafted or transferred into a subject. Subjects include but are not limited to a dog, cat, rat, rabbit, mouse, horse, donkey, monkey, and human.

The invention further provides methods for increasing the expression of Caveolin-1 in a subject.

In one embodiment, the method comprises transferring a caveolin-1 gene into producer cells by the transfer method of the invention above and grafting or transferring the producer cells into the subject, e.g., to a desired location in the nervous system (e.g., the brain), thereby increasing the expression of Caveolin-1 in the subject.

In another embodiment, the method comprises transferring the caveolin-1 gene into neural stem cells or neural cells introducing the expression system of the invention into the neural stem cell or neuronal cell, thereby transferring the caveolin-1 gene into a neural stem cell or neuronal cell, respectively. The Caveolin-1 may then be expressed in the neural cells or neural stem cell, thereby increasing the expression of Caveolin-1 in the subject. One transfer method would be through transfection with chemical agents to introduce the expression vector or DNA either circular or linear into neural stem cells or neural cells. Another method would be microinjection into the recipient cell. Other methods include liposome-mediated transfer of the vector or DNA, dendrimer-based reagents for transfection of nucleic acids such as SuperFect or PolyFect (Qiagen), and biolistic projection of nano- or micro-particles, such as micro-gold particles, using a Helios gene gun (BioRad). Transfers may also be mediated by virus or viral particles containing within its RNA or DNA genome sequences corresponding to the caveolin-1 expression system.

In yet a further embodiment, the method comprises administering Caveolin-1 protein in neural stein cells or neural cells of the subject, thereby increasing the level of Caveolin-1 in the subject.

Further provided are methods of increasing synapse formation and improving synaptic function in neurodegenerative diseases by increasing the expression or level of Caveoline-1 in the subject by any of the methods of the invention, thereby increasing synapse formation and improving synaptic function.

Examples of neurological diseases or disorders include but are not limited to Alzheimer's disease, hemorrhagic stroke associated with traumatic brain injury (TDI), hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke, spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve injury, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), cerebrovascular amyloidosis (HCHWA), or cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, Down Syndrome (DS), Parkinson's Disease (PD), Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), Prion Diseases, Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) and Huntington's Disease (HD).

Additionally, the invention provides methods of increasing the efficacy of serotonin and dopamine regulated signal transduction by increasing the expression or level of Caveolin-1 in the subject by any of the methods of the invention, thereby increasing the efficacy of serotonin regulated signal transduction.

Further, the invention also provides methods of treating depression in a subject comprising increasing the efficacy of serotonin and dopamine regulated signal transduction by increasing the expression or level of Caveolin-1 in the subject by any of the methods of the invention, thereby treating depression in a subject.

Also provided are methods for increasing synapse formation and improve synaptic function in the brain and spinal cord of subjects who have sustained ischemic (e.g., stroke) or traumatic injury by increasing the expression or level of Caveolin-1 in the subject by any of the methods of the invention, thereby increasing synapse formation and improve synaptic function in the brain and spinal cord of subjects who have sustained ischemic or traumatic injury.

The invention further provides methods of improving the efficacy of transplanted stem cells for purposes of regenerating or repairing the central nervous system by increasing the expression or level of Caveolin-1 in the subject by any of the methods of the invention, thereby improving the efficacy of transplanted stem cells.

Additionally provided are methods of increasing neuronal membrane/raft formation, neurotransmitter and neurotrophin receptor expression, NMDA- and BDNF-mediated prosurvival kinase activation, agonist-stimulated cAMP formation, dendritic growth, arborization, and neuronal growth by increasing the expression or level of Caveolin-1 in the subject by any of the methods of the invention, thereby increasing neuronal membrane/raft formation, neurotransmitter and neurotrophin receptor expression, NMDA- and BDNF-mediated prosurvival kinase activation, agonist-stimulated cAMP formation, dendritic growth, arborization, and neuronal growth.

Further provided are methods of enhancing dendritic growth in the presence of inhibitory cytokines and myelin-associated glycoproteins by increasing the expression or level of Caveolin-1 in the subject by any of the methods of the invention, thereby enhancing dendritic growth in the presence of inhibitory cytokines and myelin-associated glycoproteins. Suitable examples of inhibitory cytokines include but are not limited to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β).

Examples of suitable myelin-associated glycoproteins include but are not limited to MAG and Nogo.

The invention also provides methods for decreasing Aβ protein level in a neuronal cell by increasing the expression or level of Caveolin-1 in the subject by any of the methods of the invention, thereby decreasing Aβ protein level in a neuronal cell.

Dosages

The appropriate dosage of Caveolin-1 for use in accordance with the methods of the present invention may depend on a variety of factors. Such factors may include, but are in no way limited to, a subject's physical characteristics (e.g., age, weight, sex), whether the compound is being used as single agent or adjuvant therapy, the progression (i.e., pathological state) of the disease, and other factors that may be recognized by one skilled in the art.

One skilled in the art would be able, by routine experimentation, to determine an effective, non-toxic amount of Caveolin-1 which would be required to treat the subject.

Typically, in therapeutic applications, the treatment would be for the duration of the disease state or condition. Further, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the optimal quantity and spacing of individual dosages will be determined by the nature and extent of the disease state or condition being treated, the form, route and site of administration, and the nature of the particular individual being treated. Also, such optimum conditions can be determined by conventional techniques. It will also be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the optimal course of treatment can be ascertained using conventional course of treatment determination tests.

Where two or more therapeutic entities are administered to a subject “in conjunction”, they may be administered in a single composition at the same time, or in separate compositions at the same time or in separate compositions separated in time. In certain embodiments, the methods of the invention involve the administration of Caveolin-1 (by means of any of the methods of the invention) in multiple separate doses.

Kits

According to another aspect of the invention, kits are provided. Kits according to the invention include package(s) or containers comprising any of the compositions of the invention or the Caveolin-1 expressed thereby. The kit may further include an instruction letter for the treatment and/or prophylaxis of a disease, for example, a veterinary disease.

The phrase “package” means any vessel containing compounds or compositions presented herein. In preferred embodiments, the package can be a box or wrapping. Packaging materials for use in packaging pharmaceutical products are well known to those of skill in the art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,323,907, 5,052,558 and 5,033,252. Examples of pharmaceutical packaging materials include, but are not limited to, blister packs, bottles, tubes, inhalers, pumps, bags, vials, containers, syringes, bottles, and any packaging material suitable for a selected formulation and intended mode of administration and treatment.

The kit can also contain items that are not contained within the package but are attached to the outside of the package, for example, pipettes.

Kits may optionally contain instructions for administering Caveolin-1 or compositions of the present invention to a subject having a condition in need of treatment. Kits may also comprise instructions for approved uses of compounds herein by regulatory agencies, such as the United States Food and Drug Administration. Kits may optionally contain labeling or product inserts for the present compounds. The package(s) and/or any product insert(s) may themselves be approved by regulatory agencies. The kits can include compounds in the solid phase or in a liquid phase (such as buffers provided) in a package. The kits also can include buffers for preparing solutions for conducting the methods, and pipettes for transferring liquids from one container to another.

The kit may optionally also contain one or more other compounds for use in combination therapies as described herein. In certain embodiments, the package(s) is a container for intravenous administration. In still other embodiments compounds are provided in a polymeric matrix or in the form of a liposome.

The following examples are provided to further illustrate aspects of the invention. These examples are non-limiting and should not be construed as limiting any aspect of the invention.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Materials and Methods

All studies performed on animals were approved by Veteran Affairs San Diego Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Protocol#: 08-035 and ID#:1141788) and conform to relevant National Institutes of Health guidelines.

Primary Neuron Isolation and Culture

Neonatal mouse neurons were isolated using a papain dissociation kit (Worthington Biochemical, Lakewood, N.J.) as previously described [27]. Neurons were cultured in Neurobasal A media supplemented with B27 (2%), 250 mM GLUTMax1, P/S (1%). Cells were cultured on poly-D-lysine/laminin (2 μg/cm²) coated plates at 37° C. in 5% CO₂ for 4 d prior to transfection with lentiviral vectors. Cav-1 cDNA was cloned in our laboratory and given to Dr. Atushi Miyanohara at the UCSD Viral Vector Core. Dr. Miyanohara successfully generated a lentiviral vector containing the synapsin promoter up-stream of the Cav-1 gene (SynCav1). SynGFP was used as control vector. Titer for both vectors was approximately 10⁹ infectious units (i.u.) per μl.

Sucrose-Density Fractionation

Membrane/lipid rafts were isolated from adult brain and neurons using detergent-free methods. Tissue and cells were homogenized in sodium carbonate (150 mM, pH 11.0), and then sonicated with three cycles of 20 sec bursts with 1 min incubation on ice. Homogenate (1 mL) was mixed with 1 mL of 80% sucrose to generate 2 mL of 40% sucrose. Above the 40% layer, 6 mL of 35% and 4 mL of 5% sucrose were carefully layered. The mixture was centrifuged at 175,000 g using SW41Ti rotor (Beckman) for 3 h at 4° C. Samples were removed in 1 ml aliquots and the membrane/lipid rafts are found in buoyant fractions 4-5 (5/35% interface).

Synaptosomal Membrane Preparation

Neuronal cells or brain tissue were homogenized in 5 ml of solution A [0.32 M sucrose (34 g/500 ml), 0.5 mM CaCl₂ (36 mg/500 ml), 1 mM NaHCO₃ (42 mg/500 ml), 1 mM MgCl₂ (102 mg/500 ml)] containing protease and phosphatase inhibitors with 12 strokes of a 19×84 mm tissue grinder (Potter Elvehjem, plastic coated) at 800 r.p.m. Samples were then subjected to centrifugation for 10 mM at 1000 g at RT to remove large debris.

Centrifugation 1 involved careful layering of the supernatant onto 4 ml of 1.2 M sucrose (41 g/100 ml or 41% sucrose) in a SW41 centrifuge tube (Beckman) and then spun at 160,000 g for 15 min (or 33,000 r.p.m. with SW41 rotor). The synaptosomes were found at the interface between the 1.2 M and 0.32 M sucrose layers. The synaptosomes were then mixed with 4 ml of 0.32 M sucrose and then carefully layered onto 4 ml of 0.8 M sucrose (or 27% sucrose) in a fresh centrifuge tube for second major centrifugation.

Centrifugation 2 consisted of spinning the sample at 160,000 g for 15 mM (33,000 rpm with SW41 rotor) generating a pellet enriched in the synaptosomes. The pellet was then resuspended in 1 ml of neuronal lysis buffer containing protease and phosphatase inhibitors and used for immunoprecipitation and/or immunoblot analysis.

Determination of Synaptosomal Membrane Fluidity Using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR)

Hydrocarbon chain mobility was measured using fatty acid spin labeling EPR analysis using 5-nitroxyl stearate (5-DSA, Aldrich) as a spin probe [76,77]. The number designation indicates the relative position of the nitroxide on the stearic acid relative to the polar carboxylic group. In the case of 5-DSA, the spin probe is firmly held in place by the head groups of the lipids, which is reflected in broad EPR lines. Synaptosomes from young (3-6 m) and aged (>18 m) mice were isolated as described previously [78]. Freshly prepared synaptosomal protein (0.1-0.2 mg) was incubated for 15 minutes with 5-DSA (1 mM final concentration) in synaptosomal buffer (120 in M NaCl, 4.7 mM KCl, 2.2 mM CaCl₂, 1.2 mM MgCl₂, 25 mM HEPES, 1.2 mM MgSO₄, 1.2 mM KH₂PO₄, 10 mM glucose) at 25° C. The mixture was then loaded into a 50 μl-glass capillary and inserted into the EPR cavity of a MiniScope MS200 Benchtop spectrometer (Magnettech, Berlin), maintained at 37° C., where the EPR spectra registered. EPR conditions were the following: microwave power, 5 mW; modulation amplitude, 2 G; modulation frequency, 100 kHz; sweep width, 150 G centered at 3349.0 G; scan rate, 7.5 G/s, with each spectrum representing the average of 5 scans. The fluidity parameters T₁₁ and T₁ are defined in FIG. 2E and are used to calculate the order parameter as previously described [76,77].

In Vivo BCAO (Bilateral Carotid Artery Occlusion) Model of Neuronal Preconditioning

Male C57BL/6J and Cav-1 KO mice were anesthetized with isoflurane. After endotracheal intubation, the lungs were mechanically ventilated with 1.5% isoflurane in 30% O₂, balanced N₂. Pericranial temperature was controlled at 37° C. Via a pre-tracheal incision, the carotid arteries and the basilar artery were exposed and a temporary clip was applied to the basilar artery. Thereafter, preconditioning (PC) was induced by occlusion of the carotid arteries. The clips were removed after a defined interval (3 min for PC and 10 min for lethal ischemia), the wounds were infiltrated with 0.25% bupivacaine and the anesthetic was discontinued. Upon resumption of spontaneous ventilation, the endotracheal tube was removed and the animals were transferred to the animal care facility 4 hr post extubation. Animals underwent transcardiac perfusion with heparinized saline followed by buffered paraformaldehyde. The brains were removed and the extent of injury to the CA1 sector of the hippocampus was determined by Cresyl violet staining.

Routine and Immunoelectron Microscopy

Brains were transcardially perfusion fixed with standard Karnovsky's fix, 4% paraformaldehyde, 1% gluteraldehyde, 0.1 M cacodylate buffer with 5 mM CaCl₂. PND5-7 animals were fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde, 2.5% glutaraldehyde, 0.1 M cacodylate buffer and 5 mM CaCl₂ to prevent tissue artifacts. Hippocampi were dissected from whole brains after 24 h and 400 μm vibratome slices prepared and re-fixed an additional 24 h. Brains were blocked (i.e., dissected) to include hippocampal areas, one hemisphere for sagittal orientation, and one hemisphere for coronal. Blocks were re-fixed for an additional 24 h followed by post-fixation with 1% OsO₄ in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer, en bloc stained with uranyl acetate and embedded with flat orientation to locate appropriate hippocampal regions of interest. Each block was thick sectioned, stained with toludine blue, and re-trimmed to isolate hippocampal areas prior to preparation of grids. Grids (70 nm sections) were stained with uranyl acetate and lead nitrate for contrast and observed on the electron microscope [JEOL 1200 EX-II (Tokyo, Japan)] equipped with a digital camera system. 25 random low magnification micrographs of the stratum radiatum were obtained from each specimen. Micrographs were analyzed for the quantity of synapses and for synapse abnormalities (reduction or changes in synapse and dendritic filopidal spine morphology, i.e., degradation of cytoskeletal architecture). The dendritic profiles were characterized by abundant organelles such as mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum and frequent contacts from vesicle-filled axon terminals. Spine synapses were identified by an electron dense region associated with vesicles pre-synaptically and that lacked cellular organelles or contained a spine apparatus (as indicated by cytoskeletal architecture) with post-synaptic densities as described previously. [79,80,81,82] Approximately 25 electron micrographs (3350 μm²) per animal were analyzed in a blinded fashion for total synapse number per area (synapse #/3350 μm²).

Generation of SynCav1 Construct

To link the neuron-specific synapsin (Syn) promoter with the Cav1 cDNA, XbaI-SalI DNA fragment containing the Syn promoter was inserted into the NheI-SalI sites of the pEGFP-N1 (Clontech) and the resulting plasmid was designated pSyn-EGFP. A 685 bp Cav1 cDNA was isolated from the pCRII-TOPO vector (Invitrogen) by PmeI-NotI digest and inserted into the SmaI-NotI site of the pSyn-EGFP to generate the pSyn-Cav1, in which the EGFP gene was replaced with the Cav1 cDNA. The Syn-promoter-Cav1 cassette was isolated from the pSyn-Cav1 and inserted into the BamHI site of the HIV1 vector backbone plasmid pHIV7 [83] and the resulting plasmid was designated pHIV1-Syn-Cav1.

Statistics

All parametric data were analyzed by unpaired t-tests or ANOVA Bonferroni's Multiple Comparison as appropriate; post hoc comparisons were made by Student Neuman Keuls tests. Significance was set at p<0.05. Statistical analysis was performed using Prism 4 (GraphPad Software, Inc., La Jolla, Calif.).

Results

PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, and Cav-1 Protein Expression is Decreased in Middle Aged and Aged Hippocampus

Hippocampi were isolated from brains of C57BL/6J mice (wild-type, WT) at 3-6 months (young), 12 months (middle aged), and >18 months (aged). Immunoblots of hippocampal homogenates showed a significant reduction in PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, TrkB, and Cav-1 in hippocampi from middle aged and aged mice when compared to young mice (FIG. 1). These data demonstrate an age-dependent reduction in synaptic signaling components and Cav-1 in the hippocampus.

Age-Related Decreases in Synaptic Signaling Components from MLR

MLR play a role in stabilizing synapses in the mammalian brain, [12,18] therefore we performed sucrose density fractionation of whole brain homogenates from young, middle aged and aged WT mice to purify MLR. Immunoblots showed buoyant fractions from young brains contained the majority of PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, AMPAR, TrkB, and Cav-1 (FIG. 2A,B). In contrast, buoyant fractions from the middle aged and aged brains showed a reduction in synaptic signaling components, with the majority of the proteins detected in heavy fractions, 11 and 12 only. Cav-1 (C) and PSD-95 (P) co-immunoprecipitated with NR2A, NR2B, AMPAR, and TrkB in the buoyant fractions of Yg mice, with decreased detection in Md and Ag. (FIG. 2C). These data demonstrate an age-dependent decrease in synaptic signaling components including Cav-1 from MLR and PSD-95 immunoprecipitation of MLR.

Previous work has shown that MLR facilitate neuronal synapse formation.[12,18] We sought to confirm whether the age-related decrease in synaptic signaling components in MLR also occurred in synaptosomes purified from hippocampi of young, middle aged, and aged WT mice. Immunoblots and immunoprecipitates of synaptosomes from middle aged and aged mice showed a significant decrease in PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, AMPAR, and Cav-1 relative to young mice (FIG. 2D). Assessment of membrane fluidity of synaptosomes isolated from whole brain of young and aged mice using electron paramagnetic resonance showed that membranes of aged mice had significantly lower membrane order parameter (greater fluidity) than membranes from young animals (FIG. 2E). These findings suggest that age-related decrease in MLR and Cav-1 expression are associated with increased membrane fluidity (i.e., increased liquid-disordered phase).[37]

Young Cav-1 KO Mice Demonstrate Accelerated Aging and Neurodegeneration

Loss of Synaptic Proteins and Neuronal Preconditioning

Cav-1 expression is decreased in hippocampi and buoyant fractions (i.e., MLR) from aged mice (FIGS. 1 and 2), we therefore assessed whether Cav-1 KO mice display reduced synaptic protein expression. Hippocampal synaptosomes from young Cav-1 KO mice showed a similar pattern to aged WT mice, reduced protein expression of PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, and AMPAR (FIG. 3A). Similar to aged WT mice, PSD-95 immunoprecipitation of hippocampal synaptosomes from Cav-1 KO mice showed minimal detection of PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, and AMPAR.

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC), a phenomenon wherein sublethal ischemia protects the brain from a subsequent lethal ischemic event, is absent in brains from aged animals[38,39] and in neurons in vitro that have reduced or no Cav-1 expression.[27] We show here for the first time that Cav-1 KO mice show a similar reduction in neuroprotective signaling components to that exhibited by brains from aged WT mice. IPC protected CA1 neurons against lethal ischemia in WT mice (FIG. 3B-iv). There was a significant increase in CA1 neuronal death in Cav-1 KO mice subjected to IPC versus WT (FIG. 3B-viii). In terms of expression and function of synaptic signaling components, young Cav-1 KO mice resemble aged WT mice.

Early On-Set of AD-Like Phenotype

Cav-1 and MLR can regulate amyloidogenic processing of APP.[30] Therefore we assessed whether brains from Cav-1 KO mice have pathological signs indicative AD. AP and P-Tau_([T181]) were significantly elevated in hippocampal homogenates from young Cav-1 KO mice (FIG. 4A). Immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrated that young Cav-1 KO mice had increased Aβ staining in Niss1 positive neurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus compared to WT mice (FIG. 4B). Hippocampi from Cav-1 KO mice showed a 20-25% reduction in cerebrovascular volume (GSA, blood vessel marker—FIG. 4C).

Enhanced Astrogliosis and Neurodegeneration

Toludine blue staining of the hippocampus showed a large reduction in neurons within the dentate gyrus and CA1 regions of young Cav-1 KO mice (FIG. 5A-i, A-ii) compared to young (FIG. 5C-i, C-ii) and aged (FIG. 5B-i, B-ii) WT mice. In addition, there appeared to be more glia and glial scar formation within the dentate gyms of Cav-1 KO mice as indicated by the darker gray cell bodies intermixed with the neurons (FIG. 5A-i, A-ii). Young Cav-1 KO show increased astrogliosis (GFAP, astrocyte marker—FIG. 5D). Fluoro-Jade®B staining demonstrated little neuronal degeneration and well-organized astrocytes in the CA1 from young WT mice when compared with Cav-1 KO mice, which showed disorganized astrocytes and areas of potential plaque development. Due to their shorter life spine,[40] obtaining older Cav-1 KO mice is difficult. We here show that the CA1 region from 12 month Cav-1 KO mice had large bright, entangled green fluorescence with red fluorescent (Niss1) neurons and severely less organized astrocytes, demonstrating increased neuronal degeneration (FIG. 5E).

There is a reduction in synaptic proteins from hippocampal synaptosomal membranes, we therefore assessed whether Cav-1 KO mice exhibited changes in total hippocampal synapses. Routine electron microscopy (EM) revealed a significant reduction in hippocampal synapses (i.e., post synaptic densities) in both Cav-1 KO (FIG. 6C) and aged (FIG. 6B) mice compared to young (FIG. 6A). In addition, Cav-1 KO mice displayed unorganized cytoskeletal assemblage (arrow heads) within dendrites (d, asterisks) (FIG. 6F) and elevated astocyte presence (arrows) compared to brains from aged and young WT mice, the latter displaying normal cytoskeletal organization (arrow heads) within dendrites (d). These data indicate that Cav-1 KO mice develop pathological changes at 3 months of age consistent with aging and AD mouse models.

Re-Expression of Cav-1 in Cav-1 KO Neurons Decreases Aβ

Cav-1 KO mice demonstrate pathology similar to AD such as elevated Aβ production in the hippocampus. We tested whether neuron-targeted re-expression of Cav-1 in primary Cav-1 KO neurons would decrease Aβ expression. We generated a viral vector that contains a neuron-specific synapsin promoter upstream of Cav-1 cDNA (SynCav1) (FIG. 7A). Increasing doses of SynCav1 for 72 hr proportionally increased Cav-1 expression and reduced Aβ (FIG. 7B). Six separate neuronal cultures from Cav-1 KO mouse brains were transfected with SynGFP (control vector) or SynCav1, and SynCav1 significantly reduced Aβ expression after 72 hr (FIG. 7C).

Discussion

The present study is the first to demonstrate that the cholesterol binding and MLR resident protein, Cav-1, complexes with synaptic proteins in the CNS, and that this organization is disrupted with age. Furthermore, this study is the first to demonstrate that loss of Cav-1 in a transgenic mouse model produces neuropathology similar to that exhibited with AD, i.e., Aβ production, elevated astrogliosis, reduced cerebrovasculature and neuronal loss in the hippocampus. Our data suggest that not only are MLR and Cav-1 essential for maintaining and stabilizing proper synaptic signaling[27] and neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia, but they also may serve to slow the amyloidogenic process of APP seen in AD brains. Lastly, Cav-1 KO mice may serve as the first non-mutational model of AD.

It is essential to understand the basic neural mechanisms of synapse formation and stabilization in order to identify potential therapeutic targets for facilitating neuronal regeneration and recovery of neuronal networks in the aged and injured brain. Traditionally synapses and MLR are considered separate subcellular structures, yet they both contain identical physical characteristics that are essential such as cholesterol, glycosphingolipids, sphingomyelin, and other saturated fatty acid containing lipids (GM₁ gangliosides, palmitic acid) as well as signaling components.[22,23,24,25,26,27] Growing evidence supports the role for free cholesterol and MLR in neuronal synaptic formation, signaling and protection.[12,18,27,41,42,43] Because free cholesterol directly affects Cav-1 expression, factors that alter intracellular cholesterol also change Cav-1 expression[44,45,46]. Specifically, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophin essential to synaptic function and development[47] which facilitates of long-term potentiation[48,49], elicits cholesterol biosynthesis and increased MLR and Cav expression in cortical and hippocampal neurons.[50] Furthermore, MLR are critical for growth cone expansion, neurite outgrowth, and axonal branching and guidance.[11,51,52] Therapeutic approaches to promote axonal regeneration and synapse formation after spinal cord injury use a MLR marker, cholera toxin B, as a direct indicator of axonal regeneration and de novo synapse formation.[53,54] Moreover, there exists increasing evidence that disruption or alterations of neuronal MLR and intracellular cholesterol can be neurotoxic and even contribute to enhanced neuronal vulnerability to Aβ[13,14,33], demonstrating the importance of these distinct microdomains for proper pro-survival neuronal signaling.[27,41,55,56,57] When Cav-1 was over-expressed in β-secretase expressing cells, amyloid precursor protein and β-secretase localization to MLR resulted in decreased Aβ production, suggesting a protective role by Cav-1 and MLR against Aβ toxicity.[30,31,32,58] Interestingly the fatty acid content in MLR (a.k.a. detergent-resistant membranes, or DRMs) isolated from synaptic endings is altered in aged animals.[59] This result is consistent with our findings that membrane fluidity in synaptosomal membranes is increased in aged brains. Age-related physiochemical changes to distinct biological membranes such as MLR could be responsible for changes in Cav-1 expression and loss of synaptosomal pro-survival signaling components with age.

Our results demonstrate that loss of Cav-1 results in accelerated aging. Cav-1 KO mice have a shortened life span. [40] Two pathophysiologies altered with aging are vulnerability to ischemic stress and progression of AD. IPC is a phenomenon whereby brief ischemia, which does not injure neurons, renders the brain less vulnerable to subsequent ischemic injury. [27,60,61,62,63,64] IPC activates endogenous signaling pathways that are neuroprotective, and this neuroprotection is lost in the aged brain. [38,39] The underlying mechanism for the lack of ischemic tolerance in the aged brain is not clear. Signaling pathways in neurons are severely compromised with age. Specifically, post-synaptic molecules such as glutamate receptors, neurotrophin receptors and pro-survival signaling cascades (i.e., kinase activation and cAMP production) decrease significantly with age. [65,66,67,68,69] It is therefore possible that the organization, and thus efficacy of signaling pathways that produce tolerance is severely limited in the aged brain. We show in young Cav-1 KO mice that preconditioning is absent, suggesting a link between the loss of MLR and disrupted organization of pro-survival signaling.

In addition to loss of IPC, Cav-1 KO mice also exhibit characteristics consistent with AD. Cerebrovascular changes and increased astrogliosis [70,71,72,73,74] could also be a contributing factor to the absence of ischemic tolerance [75] as well as the AD phenotype exhibited by young Cav-1 KO mice. Upregulation of endogenous protective signaling in aged neurons through neuron-targeted Cav-1 expression might reduce the vulnerability of the aged brain even in the presence of reduced cerebrovascular volume. Neuron-targeted Cav-1 re-expression/over-expression offers the novel possibility of re-establishing the fidelity of neuroprotective signaling that is lost with advanced age or in other forms of neurodegeneration (i.e., dementia, Alzheimer's disease, depression, Parkinson's disease).

In summary, these findings demonstrate an important role for Cav-1 and MLR in organizing synaptic pro-survival signaling components that are essential for neuroprotection against ischemic injury, neuronal regeneration, and maintaining synapse stabilization and formation. Cav-1 may be a control point for neurological aging. Further understanding of how MLR and Cav-1 serve as a nexus for pro-survival and pro-growth signaling components may not only provide potential therapeutic targets for the preservation of neuronal function, but may also yield tools that could augment the brain's capacity to reorganize its neuronal networks following injury or during late stages of neurodegenerative diseases such as AD and other forms of dementia.

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Example 2 Chemicals and Antibodies

Antibodies used for immunoblot, immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence were the following: Cav-1 (Santa Cruz Biotech—Santa Cruz, Calif.; Cell Signaling—San Diego, Calif.; and Abeam—Cambridge, Mass.), PSD-95 (Abeam and Affinity Bioreagents—Rockford, Ill.), NMDAR2A, NMDAR2B, AMPAR (Abeam), TrkBR (Cell Signaling),®₃-tubulin (Abeam), phospho-ERK1/2 (Neuromics—Edina, Minn.) and total ERK1/2 (Stressgen, city), phospho and total Src (Cell Signaling), GAPDH (Imgenex, San Diego, Calif.), AP/A4 protein (Santa Cruz Biotech and Millipore—Billecira, Mass.), P-Tau (ThermoScientific—Hanover Park, Ill.), Niss1 stain (Molecular Probes/Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.), cholera toxin B (CT-B, Molecular Probes/Invitrogen), GSA (Molecular Probes/Invitrogen), GFAP (Abeam), and Toludine blue (Sigma-Aldrich—St. Louis, Mo.). Fluoro-Jade®B was obtained from Millipore. Primary antibodies were visualized using secondary antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (Santa Cruz Biotech) and ECL reagent (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, N.J.). All displayed bands were compared to molecular weight standards (Santa Cruz Biotech). The amount of protein per sample was determined using a dye-binding protein assay (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Pa.). For immunoprecipitation protein A- or protein G-agarose were obtained from Pierce (Rockford, Ill.). For immunofluorescence, FITC and Texas Red secondary antibodies were obtained from Molecular Probes (Carlsbad, Calif.).

Immunofluorescence Confocal Microscopy

Tissue and cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 10 min at room temperature, incubated with 100 mM glycine (pH. 7.4) for 10 min to quench aldehyde groups, permeabilized in buffered Triton X-100 (0.1%) for 10 min, blocked with 1% BSA/PBS/Tween (0.05%) for 20 min and then incubated with primary antibodies (1:100) in 1% BSA/PBS/Tween (0.05%) for 24-48 h at 4° C. Excess antibody were removed by incubation with PBS/Tween (0.1%) for 15 min and incubated with FITC or Alexa-conjugated secondary antibody (1:250) for 1 h. To remove excess secondary antibody, cells were washed 6× at 5 min intervals with PBS/Tween (0.1%) and incubated for 20 min with the nuclear stain Dapi (1:5000) diluted in PBS. Cells were washed for 10 min with PBS and mounted in gelvatol for microscopic imaging. Confocal images were obtained and captured with a confocal microscope (Olympus FV1000, Zeiss LSM 510 META) at 20, 40, or 60× magnification and digitized stacks of 1-μm-thick optical sections. Exposure times were set such that the camera response is in the linear range for each fluorophore. The data sets were analyzed using SoftWorx software (Applied Precision, Inc) on a Silicon Graphics Octane workstation. Image analysis were performed with Data Inspector program in SoftWorx. Maximal projection volume views or single optical sections are shown as indicated. Colocalization of pixels was assessed quantitatively by CoLocalizer Pro 1.0 software (http://www.home-age.mac.com/colocalizerpro/). Overlap coefficient according to Manders was used to determine the degree of colocalization on whole cells or membrane regions of interest after subtracting background through normalized threshold values. The values were defined as 0 to 1 with 1, implying that 100% of both components overlap with the other part of the image. Statistical analysis will be performed using Prism.

Histological Preparation

For tissue fixation, under deep pentobarbital anesthesia, a midline thoracotomy was performed and the descending thoracic aorta was occluded. A 20 gauge needle was inserted into the left ventricle and the animal was perfused transcardially with 20 ml of heparinized saline followed by 20 ml of 4% buffered formalin. The right atrium was incised to permit free flow of perfusion fluid. The brain was removed and post-fixed for 24-48 h in fixative. The brain was sectioned into 4 mm blocks, placed in tissue holders and dehydrated in graded concentrations of ethanol in a tissue processor (Autotechnicon, Technicon Instruments, Tarrytown, N.Y.). The tissue holders were then transferred into a paraffin bath in an oven at 37° C. under vacuum suction. The paraffin blocks were separated from tissue holders and mounted in a Histostat 820S microtome (Reichert Scientific Instruments, Depew, N.Y.). 5-10 μm sections were then cut, placed on glass slides and incubated overnight at 37° C. The tissue sections were then prepared for immunohistochemistry. For cerebrovascular volume histological analysis, cryostat sections (50 μm) of mouse hippocampus were stained with lectin GSA (Griffonia simplicafolia) to label blood vessels. 8-10 low magnification images were taken on Zeiss Axiophot taking matched images. Vessels were traced with Photoshop and area of fluorescence was determined using Colocalizer Pro software.

Immunoprecipitation and Immunoblot Analysis

Immunoprecipitations (IPs) were performed using either protein A- or protein G-agarose (Pierce). Antibodies used for IPs were caveolin-1 (Cell Signaling) and PSD95 (Affinity Bioreagents or Abeam). Lysates were incubated with primary antibody for 1-3 h at 4° C., immunoprecipitated with protein-agarose overnight at 4° C. and then centrifuged at 13,000 g for 5 min. Protein-agarose pellets were washed once in lysis buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 500 mM NaCl, 1% Igepal CA-630, 1% deoxycholic acid, 0.2% sodium dodecyl sulfate) followed by subsequent washes in wash buffer 2 (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 500 mM NaCl, 0.2% Igepal CA-630) and wash buffer 3 (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 0.2% Igepal CA-630). Proteins in fractions, immunoprecipitates, and cell lysates were separated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis using 10% or 4-12% acrylamide gels (Invitrogen) and transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes (Millipore) by electroelution. Membranes were blocked in 20 mM PBS Tween (1%) containing 3% bovine serum albumin (BSA) and incubated with primary antibodies overnight at 4° C. Primary antibodies were visualized using secondary antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (Santa Cruz Biotech) and ECL reagent (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, N.J.). All displayed bands were compared to molecular weight standards (Santa Cruz Biotech). The amount of protein per fraction were determined using a dye-binding protein assay (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Pa.).

Production of Lentivirus Vectors

Lentivirus vectors were produced by transient co-transfection of HEK293T cells maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) with 10% FCS. HEK293T cells in 150 mm dishes were co-transfected by the Polyethylenimine (PEI) method with each HIV1 vector plasmid, pLP1 (pGag-Pol), pLP2 (pRev) (Invitrogen), and pCMV-G. Conditioned medium at day 1, 2, and 3 post transfection was collected, filtered through a 0.45 μm filter, and concentrated by centrifugation at 7000 rpm for 16 hrs at 4° C. with a Sorvall GS-3 rotor. The resulting pellets were re-suspended with buffer containing 10 mM Tris HCl, pH 7.8, 1 mM MgCl₂ and 3% sucrose.

Titering of HIV1 Vectors by Real-Time Q-PCR

HIV1-CMV-GFP vector (1×10⁹ iu/ml) was used as the standard. HEK293 cells in a 6-well plate were infected with different amounts of viruses in the presence of polybrene (4 ug/ml). Infected cells were passaged once every 4 days and cell DNAs were prepared at day 14 post infection by the DNeasy Blood & Tissue kit (Qiagen Science, MD). Real-time Q-PCR was performed using a primer set selected from the WPRE sequence contained in the HIV1 vector backbone.

REFERENCES CITED IN EXAMPLE 2

-   1. Zinchuk, O., Fukushima, A. & Hangstefer, E. Dynamics of     PAF-induced conjunctivitis reveals differential expression of PAF     receptor by macrophages and eosinophils in the rat. Cell Tissue Res     317, 265-277 (2004). -   2. Yee, J. K., Friedmann, T. & Burns, J. C. Generation of high-titer     pseudotyped retroviral vectors with very broad host range. Methods     Cell Biol 43 Pt A, 99-112 (1994). -   3. Yee, J. K., et al. A general method for the generation of     high-titer, pantropic retroviral vectors: highly efficient infection     of primary hepatocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91, 9564-9568 (1994).

Example 3 Materials and Methods

All studies performed on animals were approved by Veteran Affairs San Diego Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and conform to relevant National Institutes of Health guidelines.

Chemicals and Antibodies—

Antibodies used for immunoblot, immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence were the following: caveolin-1 (Santa Cruz Biotech—Santa Cruz, Calif.; Cell Signaling—San Diego, Calif.; and Abeam—Cambridge, Mass.), post-synaptic density 95 (PSD95, Abeam and Affinity Bioreagents—Rockford, Ill.), N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR2A and NMDAR2B, Abeam), α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR, Abeam), neurotrophic tyrosine kinase, receptor, type 2 (TrkBR, Cell Signaling), b₃-tubulin (Abeam) and microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2, Abeam), phospho-ERK1/2 (Neuromics—Edina, Minn.) and total ERK1/2 (Stressgen, city), phospho and total Src (Cell Signaling), Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases II (P-CaMKII, Cell Signaling), GAPDH (Imgenex, San Diego, Calif.), cholera toxin B (CT-B, Molecular Probes/Invitrogen). Primary antibodies were visualized using secondary antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (Santa Cruz Biotech) and ECL reagent (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, N.J.). All displayed bands were compared to molecular weight standards (Santa Cruz Biotech). The amount of protein per sample was determined using a dye-binding protein assay (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Pa.). For immunofluorescence, FITC and Texas Red secondary antibodies were obtained from Molecular Probes (Carlsbad, Calif.). All agonists were purchased commercially: brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF, 50 ng/ml, Invitrogen), NMDA (10 μM, Calbiochem), dopamine 1 receptor agonist (10 μM, SKF 81297 hydrobromide, Tocris), 5-hydroxytryptophan receptor 6 (10 μM, EMD 386088 hydrobromide, Tocris), forskolin (10 μM, F6886, Sigma-Aldrich), methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD, 3 mM, C4555, Sigma-Aldrich), cholesterol (50 μg/ml, C4951, Sigma-Aldrich). The phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor rolipram was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (10 μM, R6520).

Isolation and Culture of Primary Neurons—

Primary neurons were isolated from the brains (cortex and hippocampus) of postnatal day 1-3 C57BL/6J wild type and Cav-1^(−/−) mice using the papain dissociation system from Worthington Biochemical (Lakewood, N.J.) as previously described (9,27). Neurons were cultured in Neuobasal A media supplemented with B27 (2%), 250 mM GLUTMax1, and penicillin/streptomycin (1%) and grown on poly-D-lysine/laminin (2 μg/cm²) coated plates at 37° C. in 5% CO₂ for days as indicated. Anti-mitotic agents (cytosine arabinoside or FUDR) was added for the first 3 days following isolation to prevent non-neuronal cells from proliferating. Assessment with neuronal markers revealed that >90% of the cells are neurons. After 3 days, the antimitotic agents were removed to reduce neuronal toxicity associated with these agents. Because neuronal cell death occurs during culture, we added basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) or platelet-derived growth factor, (PDGF for mice) to maintain neuronal viability and plasticity.

Adenovirus Expressing Short Hairpin Small Interference RNA for Caveolin-1 (AdvshRNACav1)—

The expression of caveolin-1 in primary neurons was suppressed by using an adenoviral vector encoding a short hairpin loop for small interfering RNA to Cav-1. The sequences of caveolin-1 siRNA that are generated intracellularly are as follows, sense: GGAAAUUGAUCUGGUCAACtt (SEQ ID NO:3), antisense: GUUGACCAGAUCAAUUUCCtt (SEQ ID NO:4). Cells were treated with varying doses of the vector (6×10⁷ pfu/μl) for 72 hr. Functional knockdown of protein expression was assessed by immunoblot and immunofluorescence microscopy.

cAMP Radioimmunoassay (RIA)—

We assayed cAMP accumulation by incubating cells for 30 min with the PDE4 inhibitor rolipram (10 μM) followed by GPCR agonists for 15 min. To terminate the reaction, assay medium was aspirated, and 250 μl of ice-cold trichloroacetic acid (TCA 7.5%, w/v) was added. cAMP content in TCA extracts was determined by radioimmunoassay (28,29). Production of cAMP was normalized to the amount of protein (determined using a dye-binding protein assay [Bio-Rad, Hercules, Pa.] per sample.

Biochemical Characterization of Membrane/Lipid Rafts—

Sucrose density fractionation was performed on primary neurons as previously described (9). Neurons were lysed in 500 mM Na₂CO₃, pH 11.0, to extract peripheral membrane proteins. Cells were homogenized using three 10-s bursts of a tissue grinder and then sonicated with 3 cycles of 20-s bursts of sonication and a 1-min incubation on ice. Approximately 1 ml of homogenate (2 mg for both SynGFP and SynCav1 samples) were mixed with 1 ml of 90% sucrose in 25 mM MES, 150 mM NaCl (MBS, pH 6.5) to form 45% sucrose and loaded at the bottom of an ultracentrifuge tube. A discontinuous sucrose gradient was generated by layering 6 ml of 35% sucrose prepared in MBS (250 mM Na₂CO₃) followed by 4 ml of 5% sucrose (in MBS/Na₂CO₃). Gradients were centrifuged at 280,000×g using a SW41Ti rotor (Beckman) for 4 h at 4° C. Samples were removed in 1-ml aliquots to form 12 fractions. Because membrane/lipid rafts are concentrated at the 5/35% interface (fractions 4 & 5), only fractions 4-12 were prepared for cholesterol analysis and immunoblot. Quantification of cholesterol was performed using Amplex® Red Cholesterol Assay (Invitrogen cat. A12216). Approximately 50 μl of normalized samples, in triplicate, were placed in 96 well TC clear flat bottom plates (Corning #3997), where 50 μl of working solution containing Amplex Red was added as per directions. Plates were incubated at 37° C. and were protected from light. Plates were then placed into Infinite m200 PRO (Tecan) plate reader and were read at 571 nm and 585 nm for absorption and fluorescence emission, respectively. Data were placed on a standard curve using known amounts of cholesterol controls for analysis.

Immunoblot Analysis—

Samples were separated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis using 10% or 4-12% acrylamide gels (Invitrogen) and transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes (Millipore) by electroelution. Membranes were blocked in 20 mM PBS Tween (1%) containing 3% bovine serum albumin (BSA) and incubated with primary antibodies overnight at 4° C. Primary antibodies were visualized using secondary antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (Santa Cruz Biotech) and ECL reagent (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, N.J.). Bands were compared to molecular weight standards (Santa Cruz Biotech). The amount of protein per fraction were determined using a dye-binding protein assay (Bio-Rad).

Generation of SynCav1 Construct—

To link the neuron-specific synapsin (Syn) promoter with the Cav-1 cDNA, an XbaI-SalI DNA fragment containing the Syn promoter was inserted into the NheI-SalI sites of pEGFP-N1 (Clontech); the resulting plasmid was designated pSyn-EGFP. A 685 bp Cav-1 cDNA was isolated from the pCRII-TOPO vector (Invitrogen) by digestion with PmeI-NotI and inserted into the SmaI-NotI site of the pSyn-EGFP to generate pSyn-Cav-1, in which the EGFP gene was replaced with Cav-1 cDNA. The Syn-promoter-Cav-1 cassette was isolated from pSyn-Cav-1 and inserted into the BamHI site of the HIV1 vector backbone plasmid pHIV7 (30); the resulting plasmid was designated pHIV1-Syn-Cav-1. Lentivirus vectors were produced by transient co-transfection of HEK293T cells maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) with 10% FCS. HEK293T cells in 150 mm dishes were co-transfected by the Polyethylenimine (PEI) method with each HIV1 vector plasmid, pLP1 (pGag-Pol), pLP2 (pRev) (Invitrogen), and pCMV-G (31). Conditioned medium was collected at days 1, 2, and 3 post transfection, filtered through a 0.45 μm filter, and concentrated by centrifugation at 7000 rpm for 16 hr at 4° C. in a Sorvall GS-3 rotor. The resulting pellets were re-suspended in buffer containing 10 mM Tris HCl, pH 7.8, 1 mM MgCl₂ and 3% sucrose. HIV1-CMV-GFP vector (1×10⁹ iu/ml) was used as the standard. HEK293 cells in a 6-well plate were incubated with different titers of viruses in the presence of polybrene (4 μg/ml). Infected cells were passaged every 4 d and their DNA was prepared at day 14 post-infection using the DNeasy Blood & Tissue kit (Qiagen Science, MD). Real-time Q-PCR was performed using a primer set selected from the WPRE sequence contained in the HIV1 vector backbone.

Immunofluorescence Confocal Microscopy—

Primary neurons were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 10 min at room temperature, incubated with 100 mM glycine (pH. 7.4) for 10 min to quench aldehyde groups, permeabilized in buffered Triton X-100 (0.1%) for 10 min, blocked with 1% BSA/PBS/Tween (0.05%) for 20 min and then incubated with primary antibodies in 1% BSA/PBS/Tween (0.05%) for 24-48 h at 4° C. Excess antibody was removed by washing with PBS/Tween (0.1%) for 15 min followed by incubation with FITC or Alexa-conjugated secondary antibody (1:250) for 1 h. To remove excess secondary antibody, tissue or cells were washed 6× at 5 min intervals with PBS/Tween (0.1%) and incubated for 20 min with the nuclear stain Dapi (1:5000) diluted in PBS. Cells were washed for 10 min with PBS and mounted in gelvatol for microscopic imaging. Confocal images were captured with an Olympus confocal microscope system (Applied Precision, Inc., Issaquah, Wash.) that included a Photometrics CCD mounted on a Nikon TE-200 inverted epi-fluorescence microscope. Between 30 and 80 optical sections spaced by ˜0.1-0.3 μm were captured. Exposure times were set such that the camera response was in the linear range for each fluorophore. Data sets were analyzed using FluoroView. Quantitation of dendritic branching, length, area, and volume was performed using Autoneuron, which measures 3D image volume stacks (MBF Bioscience). Statistical analysis was performed using Prism. All parametric data were analyzed by unpaired t-tests or ANOVA Bonferroni's Multiple Comparison as appropriate; post-hoc comparisons were made by Student Neuman Keuls tests. Significance was set at p<0.05. Statistical analysis was performed using Prism 4 (GraphPad Software, Inc., La Jolla, Calif.).

Results

Neuron-Targeted Over-Expression of Cav-1 Enhances Expression of Pro-Survival Signaling Components and Augments Signaling in Primary Neurons.

We previously have shown that siRNA mediated knockdown of Cav-1 disrupts NMDA-mediated signaling and blunts neuroprotection following oxygen glucose deprivation (9). Moreover, Cav-1 KO mice exhibit reduced synaptic signaling and scaffolding proteins in hippocampal synaptosomes and this is associated with an inability to be preconditioned against lethal ischemia (32). We therefore tested if neuron-targeted Cav-1 expression would enhance membrane/lipid rafts formation and expression of synaptic receptors and in addition, would promote pro-survival signaling. SynCav1, a vector that contains the synapsin promoter upstream of Cav specifically targets Cav-1 expression to neurons (32) (FIG. 11). To show that this vector specifically expresses Cav-1 in neurons, we isolated glia from Cav-1 KO mice that had been incubated with SynCav1 for 72 hrs. As a positive control, we incubated glia from Cav-1 mice with a non-tissue specific adenoviral vector containing the Cav-1 gene. Glia from Cav-1 KO mice expressed Cav-1 if incubated with the non-specific AdvCav1 vector but not if isolated from the SynCav1, indicating the neuronal specificity of SynCav1 (FIG. 11A). Treatment of primary neurons from wild type (WT) mice with SynCav-1-containing-lentivirus significantly enhanced expression of membrane/lipid rafts (as assessed by CT-B), PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, TrkB, and AMPAR, compared to control virus (SynGFP) (from n=6 experiments, p<0.05, unpaired t test) (FIG. 11B). To confirm that SynCav1-induced increase in expression of pro-survival proteins (e.g., NR2A, NR2B, TrkB) results in functional signaling, we wanted to confirm that this increase results in functional pro-survival signaling at synaptic rather than extra-synaptic sites (33). We thus transfected neurons with SynCav1 for 72 hr and then stimulated them with NMDA (N, 10 μM), BDNF (B, 50 ng/ml), or Fsk (F, 10 μM) for 10 min. In SynCav1-incubated neurons, stimulation with NMDA enhanced activation of pro-survival kinases P-Src, P-CaMKII, and P-ERK1/2 compared to NMDA-treatment of SynGFP incubated neurons (n=4 experiments, p<0.05, unpaired t test) (FIG. 11C). BDNF enhanced P-TrkB, P-Akt and P-ERK1/2 in SynCav1-incubated neurons (n=4 experiments, p<0.05, unpaired t test) (FIG. 11D). Forskolin enhanced P-ERK1/2 in neurons incubated with SynCav1 (n=4 experiments, p<0.05, unpaired t test) (FIG. 11E). Incubation with SynCav1 significantly increased cAMP formation in response to agonism of the dopamine 1 receptor (D₁R), NMDAR, serotonin receptor (5-HT₆), or with stimulation of adenylyl cyclase with forskolin (Fsk, n=4 experiments, p<0.05, unpaired t test); AdvshRNACav1-incubated neurons showed a loss of D₁R—, NMDAR-, 5-HT₆, Fsk-stimulated cAMP formation (FIG. 11F). These results thus demonstrate that neuron-targeted Cav-1 over-expression in primary neurons enhances expression of pro-survival receptors and membrane/lipid rafts and in addition, enhances activity of pro-growth signaling molecules (e.g., activation of pro-survival kinases and cAMP synthesis).

Neuron-Targeted Over-Expression of Cav-1 Enhances Dendrite Number and Length and Expression of Membrane/Lipid Rafts.

Since pro-growth signaling components were elevated with in SynCav1-transfected neurons, we tested whether such neurons have enhanced growth and arborization of their dendrites. We found that primary neurons treated with SynCav1 for 21 days have enhanced membrane/lipid rafts expression (as indicated by CT-B), and a 3- to 4-fold increase in dendritic length (n=4 experiments, p<0.05, unpaired t test) (FIG. 12A). This treatment also enhanced branching, length, area, and volume of dendrites of SynCav1-incubated neurons compared to such features in SynGFP-incubated neurons (from n=4 experiments, p<0.05, unpaired t test), as quantitated using Autoneuron (MBF Bioscience) (FIG. 12B). Analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that SynCav1-incubated (FIG. 13B, b) neurons display enhanced dendritic arborization compared to SynGFP-incubated (FIG. 13A,a). Thus, neuron-targeted Cav-1 enhances pro-survival receptor expression and signaling molecules that promote dendritic growth in primary neurons.

Neuron-Targeted Re-Expression of Cav-1 in Cav-1 KO Neurons Restores Pro-Survival Signaling and Enhances Dendritic and Axonal Growth.

To assess the ability of Cav-1 to restore pro-survival signaling and function in Cav-1 KO neurons, we incubated neurons from Cav-1 KO mice with lentiviruses that contained SynCav1 or SynGFP. SynCav1-containing lentivirus restored Cav-1 expression, significantly enhanced NMDA-mediated P-Src and P-ERK1/2, BDNF-mediated P-Aid, P-Src, and P-ERK1/2, and Fsk-mediated P-ERK1/2 within 72 hr after incubation with the lentivirus (n=3-4 experiments, p<0.05, unpaired t test) (FIG. 14A). Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy showed that the incubation with the SynCav1 lentivirus enhanced dendritic branching, length, area, and volume, as assessed by quantification of MAP2 and by the use of Autoneuron (n=6 experiments, p<0.05, unpaired t test) (FIG. 14B). These data thus show that re-expression of Cav-1 in neurons that are deficient in Cav-1 restores pro-survival and pro-growth signaling in association with enhanced growth and arborization of dendrites.

SynCav1 Promotes Dendritic Arborization in the Presence of Neuronal Growth Inhibitors.

A major limitation to neuronal growth and repair in vivo is the presence of growth inhibitors, such as inflammatory cytokines (34) and myelin-associated glycoproteins, in the region surrounding the core of an injury (26). After injury (stroke or trauma), substantial activation of astrocytes and microglia occurs that is associated with the elaboration of inflammatory cytokines such as TNFα and IL-1β. In addition, myelin-associated glycoproteins, MAG and Nogo, which are present in the injured brain, act as growth inhibitors and limit neuronal sprouting and growth. We thus assessed whether expression of SynCav1 could promote growth in the presence of these inhibitors. WT and Cav-1 KO primary neurons (DIV3) were pre-treated with TNFα, IL-1β or MAG plus Nogo for four days. The neurons were then incubated with SynCav1 lentivirus and cultured for an additional 21 days. We found that even in the presence of the growth inhibitors, addition of the SynCav1 lentivirus increased neuronal branching, length, and area compared to control neurons incubated with SynGFP lentivirus (n=4-7 experiments, p<0.001, One-way ANOVA Bonferroni's Multiple Comparison Test) (FIG. 15A) or to neurons from Cav-1 KO mice (n=4-7 experiments, p<0.001, One-way ANOVA Bonferroni's Multiple Comparison Test) (FIG. 15B). Notably, we found that addition of the SynCav1 lentivirus 4 days after cytokine and MAG/Nogo exposure was able to augment neuronal growth.

SynCav1 Increases Membrane Cholesterol

To confirm the effect from SynCav1 on membrane/lipid rafts, we performed sucrose density fractionation on neurons incubated with either SynCav1 or SynGFP followed by cholesterol measurements and immunoblot analysis. SynCav1 significantly increased cholesterol in buoyant membrane fractions 4 (6 fold) and 5 (−20%) (n=3 experiments, p<0.001, One-way ANOVA Bonferroni's Multiple Comparison Test) (FIG. 16A). Immunoblot analysis detected an increase in PSD-95 and Cav-1 in the buoyant membrane fractions of SynCav1-incubated neurons compared to SynGFP (FIG. 16B). To assess the role of cholesterol and membrane/lipid rafts on SynCav1-mediated pro-survival signaling, we pre-treated neurons with the cholesterol removing agent MβCD (30 min, 3 mM) or cholesterol-MβCD control (1:6 ration, 50 μg/ml) as previously described(35). Pre-treatment with MβCD blunted NMDA (N), BDNF (B), and Fsk (F)-mediated activation of P-ERK1/2 in SynCav1 incubated neurons, while the cholesterol loaded control SynCav1 neurons still exhibited an increase in NMDA, BDNF, and Fsk-mediated P-ERK1/2 compared to SynGFP (FIG. 16C).

Discussion

In this study, we tested the effect of neuron-targeted Cav-1 expression (SynCav1) on pro-survival and pro-growth signaling in primary neurons in vitro. As far as we are aware, this is the first study to show that a single intervention (i.e., SynCav1) can enhance neuronal membrane/lipid raft formation, increase expression of neurotransmitter and neurotrophin receptors, elevate multiple neuronal pathways that converge to augment cAMP formation (i.e., glutamatergic, dopaminergic, serotonergic, neurotrophin-mediated), and promote neuronal growth and arborization. Furthermore, we show that genetic knockdown of Cav-1, which blunts neurotransmitter and neurotrophin-mediated signaling, can be ablated by re-expression of Cav-1. Although Cav-1 is generally considered to be a “negative” regulator of cellular signaling (36), in neuronal systems Cav-1 can have both negative and positive effects (10). The current findings extend the notion that Cav-1 can be a positive regulator of neuronal growth-promoting pathways. Our results show that, Cav-1-targeted expression in neurons increases the expression of receptors and post-receptor signaling components that promote neuronal growth and survival in addition to spatially organizing and scaffolding such molecules. One thereby achieves enhanced growth-promoting signal transduction along with increased efficacy of endogenous agonists and growth factors and of exogenous interventions that can facilitate recovery following neuronal injury or degeneration.

Lipid Rafts Promote Neuronal Growth.

Growing evidence implicates membrane/lipid rafts as an essential component for promoting growth cone expansion, neurite outgrowth, axonal branching, and axonal guidance (6,37,38). Synapses and membrane/lipid rafts are traditionally considered distinct subcellular regions of the plasma membrane, even though they share certain characteristics that are essential to their function (e.g., enrichment in cholesterol, glycosphingolipids, sphingomyelin, and other saturated fatty acid containing lipids [GM₁ gangliosides, palmitic acid]) (39). Other evidence supports a role for free cholesterol and membrane/lipid rafts in formation of neuronal synapses and in the signaling and protection of neurons (7,9,12,40,41). Moreover, as an essential component of rafts, cholesterol and changes in the cellular content of cholesterol can affect Cav expression (42,43). For example, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is essential for synaptic function and development, stimulates cholesterol biosynthesis and increases membrane/lipid rafts and Cav expression in cortical and hippocampal neurons (44).

Our results show that neurons engineered to express SynCav1 have increased expression of the membrane/lipid rafts marker CT-B and significantly enhances membrane cholesterol. Several previous studies that have investigated therapeutic approaches to promote axonal regeneration and synapse formation following brain or spinal cord injury have used CT-B as an indicator of axonal regeneration and de novo synapse formation (45-47). CT-B binds to GM₁-gangliosides, sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipids essential for brain development, plasticity, and neurite outgrowth (48-50). Other data have shown that exogenous GM₁-ganglioside evokes the release of BDNF and promotes neuronal survival (38) and that the lack of gangliosides inhibits nerve regeneration and induces axonal damage (51,52). The latter results could help explain the loss of synaptic signaling components, signaling, and neuronal processes following siRNA-mediated knockdown of Cav-1.

SynCav1 attenuates elevated basal P-ERK1/2 in Cav-1 KO neurons. Our group has previously shown that re-expression of Cav-1 in Cav-1 KO neurons attenuates elevated basal levels of P-ERK and restores NMDA-mediated activation of P-Src and P-ERK1/2 (9). In addition to our group, other laboratories have demonstrated that elevated basal P-ERK1/2 occurs in a variety of tissue ranging from myocardium to lung to the vasculature (9, 53-56). Although mechanistically not completely understood, Cav-1 KO mice exhibit hypertrophy, neoplasia, increased cyclin D levels, elevated metalloproteinase secretion and Smad-2 hyperactivation. The present paper again demonstrates high basal P-ERK in Cav-1 KO neurons, and that this again is attenuated with re-expression of Cav-1 (e.g., SynCav1).

Cav-1 Scaffolds Pro-Survival and Pro-Growth Neuronal Signaling Components.

Cav-1 and membrane/lipid rafts have previously been shown to localize neuronal signaling components that contribute to neurotransmission (9,10,14-16,57). Cav-1 and membrane/lipid rafts can regulate estrogen receptor signaling (58), glutamate receptor neurotransmission (9,43,59), and neurotrophin receptor signaling (TrkB and p75) (14,57). Although NMDAR subtypes are critical for neuroprotection against ischemic injury and for neurotransmission, their localization to extra-synaptic regions can facilitate neuronal cell death (33). Therefore, the subcellular localization of these signaling pathways helps determine neuronal cell fate. NMDAR-mediated activation of pro-survival kinases, which include CaMKII, Src, and ERK1/2, predominantly occurs in synaptic regions (33). A key finding in the present study is that SynCav1-mediated enhanced expression of NMDAR subtypes promotes a pro-survival pathway, which is dependent upon membrane cholesterol.

These results extend those that have shown the loss of Cav-1, either through siRNA or transgenic models, can blunt neuroprotection (9), metabotropic glutamate receptor-mediated long term depression (43,59), and accelerate a neurodegenerative phenotype (32,60,61). Our findings obtained with siRNA-mediated Cav-1 knockdown extend the role of Cav-1 in neuronal signaling to a variety of receptors in addition to glutamate. Interestingly, many of these receptors signal via regulating the formation of cAMP, a second messenger that regulates neuronal survival as well as growth of dendrites and axons (17,19,21). A more recent finding demonstrates that recruitment of TrkB receptors to neuronal lipid rafts, via adenosine A_(2A) receptor activation, was required for BDNF-induced hippocampal long-term potentiation of CA1 synapses (35). This recruitment to lipid rafts by A_(2A) receptor activation also enhanced P-TrkB, an effect that was mimicked by forskolin and blocked by PICA or Src inhibition. These findings are akin to our data which show that transfection with SynCav1 enhances expression of the lipid raft marker CT-B, enhances membrane cholesterol, augments BDNF-mediated P-TrkB, and forskolin-stimulated cAMP production (FIGS. 11 & 12). Although cAMP and cGMP promote, respectively, the growth of axons and dendrites (21), the precise role of Cav-1 in cGMP-mediated dendritic growth remains to be determined. Nevertheless, our data has implications for neuronal repair and emphasize the potentially beneficial effects of neuron-targeted Cav-1 in the enhancement of multiple signaling pathways that converge upon cAMP formation.

Loss of Cav-1 May Contribute to Neurodegeneration.

Cav-1 KO mice have CNS pathology similar to that exhibited in neurodegenerative diseases; such features include altered glutamate receptor signaling (9,43,59), motor and behavioral abnormalities, increased ischemic cerebral injury, impaired spatial memory, and cholinergic function (60-62). Other recent evidence has demonstrated that the localization of synaptic signaling components in neuronal membrane/lipid rafts and synaptosomes is reduced in brains from aged WT and young Cav-1 KO mice, and that Cav-1 KO mice develop a neuropathological phenotype similar to that of Alzheimer's disease (32).

In summary, data in this study show that not only do membrane/lipid rafts and Cav-1 provide a key nexus for pro-survival and pro-growth signaling components but also that an increase in expression of Cav-1 in neurons may be a novel means to preserve, restore and enhance neuronal function following injury. Application of these results and this concept, in particular to augment the capacity of the brain to undergo repair in settings such as stroke and traumatic brain injury or during late stages of neurodegenerative diseases may have important therapeutic implications.

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What is claimed:
 1. An expression system for producing Caveolin-1 specifically in neuronal cells or neural stem cells for growth and arborization comprising: (a) a neuron-specific regulatory element; and (b) a nucleic acid sequence encoding Caveolin-1 wherein the neuron-specific regulatory element of (a) is a promoter and located upstream of the nucleic acid sequence encoding Caveolin-1 of (b) and directs the expression of Caveolin-1 in neuronal cells or neural stem cells for growth and arborization.
 2. The expression system of claim 1, wherein the nucleic acid sequence encoding Caveolin-1 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 beginning at position 568 and ending at position
 1104. 3. The expression system of claim 1, wherein the nucleic acid sequence encoding Caveolin-1 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:5 beginning at position 1 and ending at position
 537. 4. The expression system of claim 1, wherein the nucleic acid sequence encoding Caveolin-1 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:7 beginning at position 1 and ending at position
 537. 5. The expression system of claim 1, wherein the neuron-specific regulatory element is the synapsin promoter as set forth in FIG. 8 (SEQ ID NO:1) beginning at position 21 and ending at position
 489. 